Author.. 





AN IMMORTAL LIFE 



EXAMINED AND CONSIDERED. 



BY JOHN J. WOODWARD. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

THOMAS WILLIAM STUCKEY, PRINTER, 
No. 57 North Seventh Street. 
18-75 



1 



y/irv* / jilt "/a 
SPICE FOR SPIRITUALISTS: 

OK, 

THE DOGMA 

OF 

AN IMMORTAL LIFE 



EXAMINED AND CONSIDERED. 



BY JOHN J. WOODWARD. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

THOMAS WILLIAM STUCKEY, PEINTER, 
No. 57 North Seventh Street. 
1ST5 



INTRODUCTION. 



:o: 

Error cannot be useful or beneficial to mankind : it is the 
duty of every individual therefore to endeavor to dispel it ; 
and in presenting this inquiry to the public, I have no 
other object than the benefit of my race. 

I have been actuated alone in this humble effort to 
throw a few additional rays of light upon a subject hitherto 
much neglected or but little considered, and yet at the 
same time of the utmost importance: " For what shall it 
profit a man if he gain the whole world, and shall lose his 
own soul." 

I have no motives of selfish interest, no sinister ambition 
to delude, mislead, or decoy mankind from the path of 
truth. 

Having for a long time been convinced that we are 
living under and sustaining the dark shadows of ancient 
superstitions; that we are wading in the turbid waters of 
the dead past, and surrounded by the false systems fabri- 
cated by the ignorance of man in the early stages of his 
mental development; from this conviction, I am induced 
to offer for the consideration of the reader some facts and 
conclusions relative to man and his future destiny. 

Man remains an enigma to himself, not because he is a 
problem so difficult to solve or investigate, but mainly be- 
cause ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, the harness of ecclesias- 
tical institutions, and a host of obstacles have hitherto been 
arrayed against every inquiry tending to a rational and 
philosophical elucidation. 

But a brighter and better day is dawning, a knowledge 
of the energy and forces of matter, the laws of its organi- 
zation, the diffusion of the lights of the several departments 



— 4 — 



of natural science, the ardor of research, the softened dis- 
position of mankind, and the awakened and excited curi- 
osity every where manifested, gives peculiar interest and 
propriety to this long-neglected and delicate investigation. 

We of the present day are no longer bound to respect 
the opinions, beliefs, and notions consequent upon the 
blundering guess-work and stupid ignorance of mankind in 
remote ages. No howl of holy horror hitherto raised by 
the church against the presumptuous audacity that dares to 
treat man like any other natural production, can any 
longer avail. No mad-dog cry of infidelity can longer pre- 
vent the reflection of the light of natural truths upon the 
mind of the honest inquirer. No storm of unreasoning 
indignation will deter any one from a calm and deliberate 
investigation: we can observe our own facts, and draw our 
own conclusions. 

It is a truth familiar to all, that any attempt at refor- 
mation or introduction of new truths have always been met 
by the fiercest opposition. It is deemed sacrilege to assail 
any of the accepted doctrines or traditions of the past. 
The masses, too, prefer an undisturbed ease, disliking the 
task of investigation; and are therefore content with the 
irrational theories that have been forged by our fathers 
and thrust upon society. To this class we may add still 
another : I mean those who are wholly incompetent to ex- 
amine and explore for themselves, and are therefore willing 
to go with the current. 

In view of those facts, I can hardly hope to make a 
broad impression upon the community. But there are 
some who are willing to look into this subject with candor, 
and a desire to know the truth; to them I address myself. 
I know how hard it is to penetrate the citadel of ignorance 
and confirmed error, therefore to those that to-day place 
faith in the stupid fables of antiquity above the teachings 
of natural science in relation to man, I have nothing to 
say. I have no controversy with such as place blind faith 
above reason. 

In an impartial investigation of the nature and destiny 
of man, it is necessary to a correct understanding of the 
subject to divest ourselves of all traditional prejudices, and 



I 



— 5 — 



we should be willing to receive and embrace the truth 
whenever, wherever, and however it may be found, without 
regard to its agreement or disagreement with our precon- 
ceived opinions. The study of man is unlike any other 
subject: it embraces and extends to almost every branch 
and department of human knowledge, and the deeper we 
examine the wider is the range. And no person is quali- 
fied to judge of the correctness or truth of any theory or 
doctrine connected with man, unless he has previously 
made himself acquainted with a wide range of demonstra- 
ble facts, and is willing to accept the light of natural truth, 
even though it may lead to the destruction of some long- 
cherished belief. In this inquiry we have but one question 
to ask and to answer, and it is this : Is the doctrine of 
immortal life true or false ? And no other question can be 
entertained until this one is settled. The question of con- 
sequences, the great bugbear of fools, will doubtless arise 
with many, but they have always taken care of themselves. 

Though ignorance and error largely abound in the world, 
and society is penned in on all sides by an impenetrable wall 
of bigotry and prejudice, having no weak side of common 
sense whereby you may approach, still there are individuals 
to be found that the arrows of truth may reach. And a 
sense of duty should prompt each one of us to try to make 
some nook or corner more enlightened; and, if I can be 
instrumental in diffusing a little light and truth, thereby 
supplanting error in a few, I shall be amply repaid for this 
humble effort. As a test of the truth of the views I here 
maintain, I ask only that they may be carefully submitted 
to the teachings of natural science, that is destined ere 
long to be the great and only lawgiver of the world. 



ETERNAL LIFE: 



OR, 

THE DOCTRINE OF MAN'S IMMORTALITY. 
:o: 

It is one thing to believe the myths and traditions of the 
past, but it is quite another to know by virtue of study 
and research what is the truth. The antiquity of a tale or 
doctrine is by no means any proof of its authenticity; but 
on the contrary, it is evidence quite conclusive that it is 
untrue, because most of the tales and teaching of the re- 
mote past are upon investigation found to be false. There 
is avast difference between knowledge and belief, — mankind 
believe much more than they know. They believe largely 
in that which they can neither know nor comprehend. Be- 
lief with many is based upon faith : and faith is belief with- 
out evidence; it is an assent to that which is not found in 
experience, fact, or demonstration. 

The great mass inherit their beliefs as they inherit the 
family estate : no question of probability, plausibility, or 
possibility is raised ; they are accepted for truth because 
they descended from their ancestors and came from an- 
tiquity. 

A child comes into existence from his parents ; he has 
inherited his organization; that is, his features, faculties, 
disposition, and elements of character. Without thought 
he accepts their habits of life, practices, prejudices, notions 
of religion, and government : he is taught by them that 
these are adapted to his happiness and prosperity, and that 
want, misery, and suffering will certainly follow their re- 
jection. Thus all that he has inherited, as well as his 
youthful training, together with the surrounding institu- 



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tions, are interwoven and incorporated into his very being : 
they become a part of himself, and as dear to him as life 
itself. So it is seen why men cling with such tenacity to 
opinions and beliefs adopted in youth : they never think of 
investigating any dogma or doctrine, unless by some expe- 
rience they learn that it is at war with their interest or 
happiness. 

But aside from the opinions involuntarily contracted or 
inherited, belief is not a matter of choice. Those that are 
free from the fetters of faith, and the blinding influence of 
traditional prejudice, cannot believe otherwise than they 
do, until sufficient evidence is afforded to form a new con- 
viction. Belief must depend upon evidence : thus, before I 
will run from fear, I must have some belief that there is 
positive danger. I may conclude it is safe to enter a pow- 
der magazine; but I discover there is fire near by, and my 
belief is changed by the evidence of danger. 

It is the height of folly to ask an individual to believe this 
or that; because if you can overcome his ignorance, preju- 
dice, or interest with facts or arguments that amount to 
evidence, he must give his assent, he cannot avoid believ- 
ing ; it is no matter of choice with him. Evidence is the only 
sure foundation ; tribunals acquit and condemn upon it. It 
is the weight of the testimony that determines the verdict 
of the jury. No correct conclusion or belief can be ar- 
rived at or formed independent of evidence. It is a thing 
impossible to form a correct opinion or - belief without 
knowledge: and all knowledge is objective; it comes from 
without through the medium of the external senses. Thus, 
evidence producing an impression upon the faculties is in- 
dispensable to the correctness of all belief and judgment. 
A belief formed and asserted where no evidence is afforded, 
is but a chimera, a phantasy, an imaginary whim, that can 
have no foundation in fact or experience. 

It is belief without evidence that has cursed and scourged 
mankind in all ages : it is the key that has so long locked 
the world in ignorance and darkness. It is lamentable and 
humiliating to think how long vain imaginations have 
weighed upon the understanding of the undeveloped mind : 
in whatever direction we look in the history of the past 



— 9 — 



we discover its baneful influence. Savage or civilized, all 
alike consciously and unconsciously, have been crushed be- 
neath its dominion, — bewildering, darkening, and degrad- 
ing the race. Belief without knowledge is the source of all 
the delusions, superstitions, and religious persecutions that 
have so blackened, blood-stained, and disgraced the history 
of humanity in all ages. 

It is faith, a belief without evidence, that was the prolific 
mother of all the mysteries and miracles that have been 
given to the world, teaching mankind to believe in fictitious 
powers, beings of the imagination, in violation of all known 
and natural law, feeding the feeble mind with trash for 
truth. It is belief without evidence that has compelled 
philosophers to conceal their discoveries upon pain of fire 
or gibbet, thus destroying the efforts of science to enlighten 
the human mind. 

Be it observed and remembered that man has made no 
true progress in any department, until he abandoned the 
conjectures and speculative opinions inherited from an 
ignorant ancestry. Man has existed upon the earth but 
little short of one hundred thousand years. 

How long then has he lived and groped in the dark, but 
little removed from the condition in which he first ap- 
peared ? Since it is less than four hundred years ago that 
one-half of the globe was unknown to the other half, and 
only about the same period that the art of printing was in- 
vented, without which knowledge could not be diffused: 
chemistry, electricity, and galvanism were discovered in 
the last century ; the principal mechanical sciences give 
strong indications of infancy and youth; the study of 
geology has only within a short time earnestly commenced, 
without which we can form no correct idea of the past 
changes in the physical structure of the globe, or the 
varied successions of its inhabitants; the application of 
steam and electricity to the uses of life are of quite recent 
origin ; the properties of matter and its inherent forces are 
just now being understood and explained. But in nothing 
was the ignorance of mankind more conspicuous than in 
regard to himself: of man and his nature but little or 
nothing was known. It is but little over two centuries since 

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— 10 — 



the circulation of the blood was discovered, or any correct 
idea formed of the economy of life ; the uses and functions of 
many of man's physical organs were entirely unknown : the 
heart was considered the organ of the affections or the seat 
of wickedness and deceit ; now its office is to propel the 
blood throughout the system. It is less than a century since 
the true functions of the brain and nervous system were 
ascertained and explained ; previously the head was deemed 
but a round knob terminating the columnal structure, con- 
venient as a location for eyes, ears, &c. 

So in view of those facts it may safely be said, that com- 
paratively man is obviously only in the beginning of his 
true career of discovery and progress. 

Now, in consequence of this profound ignorance, we 
really inherited but little from antiquity of any true value ; 
but, on the contrary, their false theories and blundering 
guess-work served as formidable obstacles to the promul- 
gation of scientific truth when it was presented. They 
originated much that they never discovered; they were 
prolific in theories, which they formed before they observed 
facts: we have rejected nearly all that they claimed for 
knowledge as spurious and worthless. We discard their 
geography, their astronomy, their chemistry, their botany, 
their natural and mental philosophy, their systems of 
government, their mythology ; in short, their physics and 
metaphysics, together with their prophecies, auguries, 
oracles, and omens. 

Man in his undeveloped and uncultivated condition only 
a few thousand years ago, was an ignorant, sensual, credu- 
lous, superstitious savage, with an intellect simple and 
weak. In this condition the entire of nature presented to 
his mind but a mighty chaos of events, too stupendous, 
too complicated, too diversified, and intricate to unravel; 
the chain of causation too mysterious and abstruse to be 
discovered or traced by his feeble and limited powers. 
With no history of the past and no correct knowledge of 
the present, he could have no idea of cause and effect, the 
economy and forces of nature, or the working of her laws. 
To him all was unknown ; everything was a mighty mys- 
tery; doubt, suspicion, suspense, intimidation, fear, and 



— 11 — 



terror were excited by all that surrounded him. In this 
condition he passed a long night of darkness, before his 
mind was fitted for the most simple comparison of ideas or 
digestion of impressions. When he became competent to 
reflect upon his condition, he discovered that he was sur- 
rounded and subjected to influences and forces superior to 
his own and independent of his choice or will : under these 
circumstances he endured the action of the elements and 
powers of nature like a machine for a long time, without 
even recurring to the cause. But at length, by slow degrees, 
his curiosity became excited, and he began his conjectures 
and speculations concerning the phenomena of nature. 

In this condition of ignorance, he essayed to write the 
history of the silent ages. Imagination seized the pen of 
the historian, and with fanatic fervor he recorded the great 
myths of creation that are to be found in the sacred books 
of all religions. Without study, without research, without 
discovery and without knowledge, he solved the enigmas of 
nature by supposing the supernatural. Though of nature 
he knew little or nothing, yet in the boundless immensity 
of imaginative power he discovered a super-nature; a do- 
main outside, over or above nature : this being beyond the 
reach of conception, became at once the abode of invisible 
powers and spiritual existences, that managed and controll- 
ed the vast machinery of the universe. Thus mankind in 
their ignorance of physical causation gave us good and evil 
spirits, gods and devils, angels and witches, holy ghosts and 
saviours, gorgons and goblins, each of whom had a special 
office to fulfill in the varied phenomena with which they 
were surrounded. 

Now it could hardly be expected that while man re- 
mained too ignorant to comprehend the inherent properties 
of matter, that he was in a condition to know and explain 
the highest phase of organic life as exhibited by himself. 
Yet it was in this stage of knowledge, in this undeveloped 
condition of the human mind, that the nature of man was 
proclaimed. He was declared to be a compound being, with 
an animal nature and a spiritual nature, having a living- 
soul or entity that endured forever. This theory and doc- 
trine was not based upon any knowledge acquired by a 



— 12 — 



deliberate investigation of organic structure in man and 
the lower animals, nor upon any careful comparison be- 
tween them ; but upon a conclusion, that as man seemed 
to be so transcendent to the brutes, there must be a wide- 
marked separation and difference somewhere. Their lim- 
ited knowledge not permitting the discovery of the true 
cause of superiority, it was supposed that there was some- 
thing in man denoting an individuality that endured or 
lived forever. 

This is the origin of the idea of man's immortality, that 
has descended by tradition down to us from the dead past, 
which has been imbedded in society through motives of 
selfish interest, and is now by many deemed too sacred for 
investigation. But upon this subject of eternal life reason 
is unsatisfied, and therefore seeks to interpret the immeas- 
urable superiority of man over the speechless animals in 
a more rational, truthful, and worthier way. Upon this 
subject no satisfactory conclusion has ever been reached: 
except among thinking and disciplined minds it remains 
to be a problem of doubt and discussion. Pulpit orators, 
though pretending that there is no doubt remaining upon 
this point, still continue to introduce and discuss it; thus 
clearly indicating they are conscious that no evidence at 
all demonstrative or conclusive has ever been adduced, 
calculated to satisfy honest inquiry. 

Antiquity of the Doctrine of Immortality. 

This doctrine was originated at a period long anterior 
to any correct knowledge of nature or scientific truth, still 
it was not developed in the rude infancy of man, but at a 
time when he became prolific in chimeras, fables, and new 
theories, which — when once advanced — were eagerly em- 
braced by all incompetent to judge between fiction and 
fact. It is not difficult to induce a belief, no matter how 
absurd, that promises great and peculiar advantages. 

The first traces of this theory, of an immortal spirit in 
man, that history or tradition gives us, is found in India, 
where the whole tendency of thought was ideal, the whole 
religion a pure spiritualism, a perfect abstraction, and their 



— 13 — 



god a spirit intelligence. With them spirit was the only 
reality, the world but an illusion. But as the Brahmans 
of India were the descendents and successors of the Arians, 
they doubtless inherited this idea from them. As we have 
no history at all reliable that extends backward into an- 
tiquity more than six thousand years, its origin is lost in 
the night of time. We to-day have an antiquity, and have 
been taught by and from antiquity; so in like manner 
have the Brahmans of India had an antiquity by which 
they too were taught, — they like the moderns had precur- 
sors to study, imitate, and copy. But, from the feeble light 
that is afforded by history, we cannot go beyond India: 
we therefore say that she is the mother of the human race, 
the cradle of all our traditions. India has given to the 
world her civilization, her laws, her customs, her morale, 
and her religion. She impressed upon Egypt, Persia, Ju- 
dea, Greece, and Rome a stamp as ineffaceable, impressions 
as profound, as these last have impressed upon us. 

Nations and individuals learn of each other, and influence 
each other : Egypt was one of the first countries that re- 
ceived the influence of that antique theology that has rad- 
iated even to us. The government of Egypt was an iden- 
tical copy of that of India : in the first rank appeared the 
priest, protector, and guardian of all civil and religious 
truth, controller of kings and people, anointed of the Lord, 
irresponsible in all his acts: in fact, above all laws, as he 
was above all men. The priests of Egypt, then, imbibed 
this doctrine of the immortality of the soul as it existed in 
India : they, like all their greedy craft, seized upon it with 
avidity for selfish aggrandisement, as one calculated to yield 
emoluments and power to the order. 

They were not slow to discover that, by alluring pro- 
mises of everlasting life, they could purchase and extort 
from the people immunity from labor, a luxurious living 
and princely power. The priests instituted rites, ceremo- 
nies, and forms of worship in which they largely officiated, 
for which they exacted gifts and offerings ; and, in return 
for this support, gave cheap promises of eternal life to their 
credulous admirers. By this means much was done to 
disseminate and perpetuate this belief, and wherever it was 



— 14 — 



established, any attempt to doubt, question, or canvass its 
truth, has always been met with the fiercest opposition : 
knowing the weakness of their cause, and the entire want 
of evidence upon which this belief was based, and that it 
could not be successfully maintained by sound logic or in- 
ductive reasoning, the priesthood, to stifle investigation, 
cried sacrilege and blasphemy. It was in Egypt that the 
doctrine of the transmigration of souls was inculcated by 
the priests : they taught that the souls of men after 
death passed into the bodies of clean or unclean animals, 
according to the deeds done in the body, and that, at a dis- 
tant period of time, they returned to the body to which 
they originally belonged. This belief induced their kings 
to build enormous edifices and hew catacombs out of the 
solid rocks for the reception of their bodies, in order that 
they might repose in security till they were to be again 
endowed with a living soul. Here is the solution to the 
practice of inhuming mummies in those huge pyramids, as 
well as that' of deifying and preserving various animals. 

From Egypt this doctrine of India was carried into 
Persia, and also into Greece and Rome, by Pythagorus, 
Plato, and others, from whence it has been largely diffused 
over the world. 

Vitativeness, a love of life or desire to live, seems to be 
common and proper to all animals, tending to self-preserva- 
tion ; but man, being capable of discovering and foreseeing 
that there were limits to life, willingly accepted this doc- 
trine at the behest of the priests, as it in some degree satis- 
fied his desire. It was gratifying to believe that, though 
death was the lot of all upon earth, it did not terminate 
the existence of man; therefore he, being superior to all 
other animals, lived forever in another world. 

Diversity of Belief respecting this Dogma. 

The first thing that strikes the observer in relation to 
this doctrine of eternal life, is the discordance and diversity 
of opinion exhibited by its believers ; which is proof posi- 
tive that it is based upon no tangible or reliable evidence 
that may be recognized by all. About the nature and 



— 15 — 



character of the soul, and its final destiny after the disso- 
lution of the body, scarcely any two sects of believers can 
be found to agree. One claims that there will be at the 
last day a general judgment, when all humanity will arise 
from the dead; bone will join its fellow bone, and atom its 
fellow atom, and appear before the tribunal of God, to re- 
ceive their final doom. Another believes that the soul or 
spirit only goes to God, to be judged by the deeds done in 
the body during life : that if this Supreme Judge finds that 
the good outweighs the evil, then heaven and its blessings 
is the abode of the soul forever ; but if the evil preponder- 
ates, then endless woe and torment is its portion. Another 
maintains that heaven is no place, but only a state and 
condition; that there is no judgment before the throne of 
God; that, in the condition death leaves them, if a state 
of happy tranquility, enjoyment and pleasure is the soul's 
eternal inheritance; but if in a state of sin and transgres- 
sion, they are doomed to sorrow and suffering throughout 
all coming time. Others insist that the animal body is 
only a tabernacle of clay, a clog and a cumbrance, the tem- 
porary abode of the spirit for a short time ; that when death 
takes place, the soul is delivered from its prison-house, and 
begins its true life of progress, advancing from one stage 
to another of higher perfection and greater intelligence. 
Again, others believe the soul does not soar away to heaven 
at once upon leaving the body, but hovers round near it, 
awaiting a new home, or its reception into some inferior 
animal. Then come the modern spiritualists, believing that 
the souls or spirits of individuals upon leaving the inani- 
mate form, rise only to a little elevation, watching over 
their friends upon earth, and at will materializing them- 
selves for the purpose of communicating with particular 
individuals. These exhibit, however, a liberality not to be 
found in any other believers, as they do not deny to animals 
an immortal life, but admit them as consorts in their 
spirtual abodes; beasts, birds, and all animals associated 
with man upon earth enjoying spiritual existence; birds 
singing in the groves, swans swimming on the lakes, afford- 
ing pleasure to man as upon earth. This is ascertained by 



— 16 — 



the same kind of evidence that convinces them of their own 
immortality. 

These, together with numerous other wild and fanciful 
theories, in which we find various devices and contrivances 
for the reception of the soul, — such as purgatory, a hell 
burning with brimstone, a heaven provided with saints and 
angels, and a mediator seated at the right hand of God, 
have been at different times conjured up. 

Now any one of the various notions relative to the des- 
tiny of the immortal soul in man, stands upon just as good 
and strong a foundation as that of any other. As this 
dogma is wholly imaginary, based alone upon conjecture, 
it is not difficult to account for the many opposite and con- 
flicting opinions respecting it. It is because men always 
disagree when the evidence is conflicting or not clear, or, 
as in this case, where there is no evidence at all to base a 
conclusion upon. 

Truths cannot conflict with each other; those several 
theories cannot be true ; the house is divided against itself, 
and must therefore fall. No inference for truth can be 
drawn from contradictory testimony. This discordance of 
belief is not to be found upon any subject where absolute 
truth is discovered: upon no scientific truth do mankind 
disagree, because ascertained fact is the bond of union, the 
same demonstrative evidence is accessible to all. So all 
mankind, no matter what their race, nation, faith, or lan- 
guage, can harmoniously stand upon the same platform. 

Now, instead of descanting further as to when, where, 
and how this doctrine originated, or by whom it was dis- 
seminated, let us endeavor to discover whether it is true 
or false, by applying the knowledge and science of the pre- 
sent day to this long-taught theory. Let the evidence 
afforded by the nature of man, and the analogy between 
him and the lower animals be considered, it surely will 
prove as much and be as conclusive as the authority of 
conjecture. 



— 17 — 



Man an Organic Production. 

The physical basis of all organic life is termed proto- 
plasm : in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms it is 
found to be a chemical unit, in both it is the component 
material. 

Protoplasm simple or nucleated is the formal basis of all 
life : it is clay in the hands of the potter, who may mould, 
mark, paint, or bake it as he will, yet it still remains clay. 

A nucleated mass of protoplasm is, then, the structural 
unit of the human body : in its earliest state it is a mere 
multiple of such units ; and, in its greatest and highest 
perfection, but a multiple of these units variously modi- 
fied. 

For nearly fifty years biologists and other scientists have 
known that man originates in a similar germ ; that is, the 
germinal vesicle being the same, having his inception in 
an egg, he passes through the same slow progressive modi- 
fication, depending upon the same contrivance for pro- 
tection and nutrition, and enters the world by the same 
process as all placental mammals. Man is identical in the 
physical process by which he originates, identical in the 
early stages of his formation, identical in the mode of his 
nutrition before and after birth, with the animals which lie 
immediately below him. If we compare the perfect adult 
structure of man with theirs, it exhibits a wonderful simi- 
larity of organization. Man resembles them as they re- 
semble one another, and he differs from them as they differ 
from one another. Indeed no naturalist of any name or 
note ever placed man apart in a distinct order, as an 
animal or being having no relation and connection with any 
other. But, on the contrary, Linnaeus, Cuvier, and all dis- 
tinguished zoologists and comparative anatomists, arranged 
man in the same order with the animals possessing the 
characteristics upon which classification is based. 

Protoplasm is not only the formal basis of the human 
body, but it is the material out of which the entire animal 
frame and fabric is built. It is the stuff that forms the bulk 
of all organic life, and is the agent of nutrition from infancy 
to old age, death, and dissolution. 

2 



— 18 — 



Every time we run, walk, move, feel, or perform any 
mental action, this labor requires the expenditure of a cer- 
tain amount of force, which uses up and dissolves numer- 
ous particles of the brain, nerves, and muscles. It is a prin- 
ciple in modern science that all force is measured by the 
amount of material consumed. We cannot think, wink, or 
utter a word without some physical loss : some portion of 
our organism is dissolved into carbonic acid, water, &c. 
Now it is quite clear that this process of waste and expen- 
diture cannot go on forever ; the wear and tear, the loss and 
waste resulting from the movements of all animal machinery 
is supplied by taking organic matter into the digestive 
apparatus. Thus, from all fruits, plants, and vegetables, 
cooked or raw, the living material to restore the waste of 
life is supplied. By the inward animal laboratory the rice, 
wheat, corn, and other farinacious substances are, in a few 
hours, converted into animal fibre, living, moving, feeling, 
thinking, &c. Again, we take a living animal, we deprive 
it of life, in a short time the carcass becomes rigid and 
cold; it is then subjected to boiling, roasting, and various 
other culinary processes ; by this time the protoplasm has 
become motionless, inactive, and dead. But when taken 
into the living human stomach, it is there overhauled by 
the apparatus of digestion, and prepared to pass into the 
circulation; and the subtle influences there imparted con- 
vert this dead protoplasm into living, moving, active pro- 
toplasm. Thus, in the short space of three or four hours, 
the beef, the pork, the mutton, and the fowl is transub- 
stantiated into the man. The ox, the hog, and the sheep 
are converted into the man; the substances composing 
their bodies become in him contractile muscle, thinking 
and willing nerve and brain. It is clear that he is not 
only from these lower animals, but of them. 

The vegetable and animal worlds are connected each 
with the other so intimately and closely, and run into each 
other so, that the nicest perception can scarcely determine 
where one begins or the other ends. And so it is with the 
various types of vegetable and animal life: they are so 
blended, each form with the one below it, in the chain of 
existence, that little or no gap is observable, the higher or- 



— 19 — 



ganization of a low type running up to a low organized 
form of a higher type. Nor does this connection stop here : 
it runs gradually through this higher type, by variations 
of structure, until it arrives at the lowest limits of the one 
still higher in the scale. 

It is shown upon powerful evidence that there is a con- 
tinuous variation of organic forms, from the lowest to the 
highest, including man as the last link in the chain of 
being : that all mammals have much in common with each 
other; all come into existence in the same way, subject to 
the same laws, and live by the same economy, the same 
processes of respiration, digestion, etc.; all are subject to 
disease, and to all death comes in the same way. 

The germinal and embryotic characters and appearance 
being the same in all types of the mammal, nothing can 
be discovered by an examination of the embryotic form for 
a considerable time, indicating what the type of the new 
animal will be. There is not much apparent resemblance 
between a barn-door fowl, the dog which guards the farm- 
yard, and the man that owns the whole, yet they are iden- 
tical in their primary development in all essential respects. 
Indeed, it is quite a considerable time before the body of 
the young human being can be readily distinguished from 
that of the young puppy. 

And, further, the brain of the human foetus in the pro- 
cess of development passes through the forms and appear- 
ances exhibited by the brains of the inferior animals. 
Thus, at one period it presents that of the fish, then that 
of the reptile, the bird-, the rodent, the ruminant, the dig- 
itigrade, the quadrumana, and, lastly, the bimana. The 
offspring of the Caucasian is born a perfect Mongolian, and 
is developed into the type of the parents after some 
months of time have elapsed, demonstrating that organiza- 
tion begins far down in the organic scale. He is bound up 
in a bundle of animate forms, the assemblage of which con- 
stitutes the great kingdom of organic life. Man is con- 
nected with all forms of life below him, and animated na- 
ture is a living whole. 

Thomas H. Huxley says: "If man be separated by no 
greater structural barrier from the brutes than they are 



— 20 — 



from one another, then it seems to follow that the process 
of physical causation by which the genera and families of 
ordinary animals have been produced, is amply sufficient to 
account for the production of man." And still further, the 
same authority informs us, that: "In view of the intimate 
relations between man and the rest of the living world, I 
can see no excuse for doubting that all are co-ordinate 
terms of nature's great progression from the inorganic to 
the organic, — from blind force to conscious intellect, will, 
and reason." 

Now, as far as the close connection of the mineral, vege- 
table, and animal worlds, and the different orders and vari- 
eties of animals with one another extends, no clue is given 
to anything like immortal life in man, the last link in this 
concatenation. But, on the contrary, reasoning from anal- 
ogy, we must conclude that there is, in this vast system of 
evolution in organic life, that rises by an almost impercep- 
tible gradation, from the lowest mammal up through the 
various types to the lowest of the human race, and from 
these upward to the most refined and gifted, a powerful ar- 
gument against this assumption. 

Influence of Physical Circumstances on Organic Life. 

Physical circumstances exert a powerful influence in 
moulding and determining the character of both plants 
and animals. Our fruits and culinary plants exhibit under 
cultivation characteristics and qualities widely different 
from what were common to them in a state of nature. 
Some are so modified that they show no trace of their 
original stock. The new circumstances and conditions con- 
sequent upon domestication have produced a wonderful 
effect upon all the animals subjected to its influence, as 
shown by the entire farm stock; and in a state of nature, 
away from artificial influence, the fauna of any particular 
region is marked by climatic influences. Thus, in the fro- 
zen, snowy north, where all surrounding objects are white, 
the animal inhabitants, too, put on a coat of hair and 
feathers of the same complexion; in the temperate re- 
gions, the wild animals and game living and sitting upon 



— 21 — 



the ground are brown, the color of the dead leaves and 
grass that surround them ; while the squirrels are gray, the 
color of the bark of the trees upon which they feed and 
live ; and when we turn to the torrid zone, to a warm re- 
gion, there we find the feathered fauna with a gorgeous 
plumage, like the brilliant hues of the plants and flowers 
among which they are found. Nor does the influence of 
external circumstances stop with the external appearance; 
it extends to their organisms. The fishes found in caves 
where light is excluded have no eyes ; birds restrained from 
flying lose, in a few generations, the power of flight; and 
aquatic birds kept from the water in time lose their web- 
footed structure. This same physical influence extends to 
the mental constitution also, by modifying the organs upon 
which it depends. The young of domestic animals mani- 
fest little or no fear of man, while the young of the same 
varieties in a wild state exhibit it, particularly if their 
parents have long considered man as their enemy. In a 
perfect state of nature, away from the haunts of man, wild 
varieties do not exhibit more fear of him, at first sight, 
than of other animals. This is proved by the fact that, on 
islands uninhabited by man, large birds exhibit no more 
fear at his approach than small ones. This fear of man is 
slowly acquired by experience, and, like the training in the 
pointer dog, is inherited. Large birds have for centuries 
been hunted and destroyed in all civilized countries, and 
hence they fear man as their common enemy, and flee from 
his approach. Again, dogs in a state of nature have no 
love for man, but in a state of domestication they exhibit 
it in a remarkable degree ; .circumstances have influenced 
their mental qualities, and these new qualities are inherited 
by the offspring. Dogs, by a course of training or edu- 
cation, have lost or disobeyed their natural disposition to 
jump at game when found, and will stand instead. This 
training produces a changed condition of the brain and 
nerves in the animal; hence the hereditary peculiarity in 
the young puppy. These are a few among the many 
changes that physical circumstances produce in the char- 
acteristics of the lower orders of organic life. 

Now, have we any evidence to show that man has in like 



— 22 — 



manner been changed and modified in his physical and 
mental constitutions. A little investigation will suffice to 
show that he, more than any other known animal produc- 
tion, yields to surrounding circumstances ; climate and tem- 
perature influence both his stature and complexion, as well 
as his mental capacity. It is well known that man in 
northern latitudes manifests but little genius, and that the 
inhabitants of tropical regions are, as a general thing, 
neither authors nor inventors. He seems to be both plastic 
and elastic, his constitution readily accommodating itself 
to the vicissitudes of climate. His escape from the hard- 
ships of savage life, and the adoption of civilization, soft- 
ened to a great degree his nature and disposition. The 
artificial covering that his ingenuity supplied, the better 
to protect his body from the attacks of insects and the 
inclemency of the climate, in due time supplanted that coat 
that nature provides for all warm-blooded animals, and he 
in consequence exhibited a marked change in appearance, 
becoming more a man and less a beast. 

But the crowning influence upon man by external cir- 
cumstances, acting as a developing stimulus upon his 
mental organs, is seen in the position in which he found 
himself in the early stages of his existence. He was by no 
means alone in the world; he made his appearance at a 
time in the history of our planet when myriads of types of 
life had already appeared and disappeared. He found 
himself contemporary with large and formidable animals, 
with whom he had to run the race of life : animals that 
respected or knew no right or law, save one, — the law of 
self-preservation. He found the mastodon, elephant, and 
rhinoceros, large and powerful animals, that feared no de- 
stroying enemy; the equine family, strong, swift, and cau- 
tious, capable of fleeing from both hunger and danger, and 
well provided with means of defence ; the bovine family, 
with size, strength, horns, and speed, capable of taking care 
of themselves; and the elk, deer, and their kindred, with 
argus eye, ever on the alert, with speed that few could 
equal ; all of them granivorous in their habits, living upon 
the spontaneous productions of the earth, having but 
few obstacles to prevent their perpetuation. On the other 



— 23 — 



side were the blood-thirsty carnivora, armed by nature 
with teeth, claws, and superior sight, scent, and stealth; 
requiring by their organization blood and flesh to sustain 
life. For these man, as an animal, was no match. He 
found himself in the depths of the forest, in the midst of 
those ferocious and formidable rivals, diminutive in stature, 
feeble in strength, with no instruments of defence save fists 
and feet, which were nothing in comparison with those of 
his antagonists ; and he, too, walking on his heels, the index 
of sloth in regard to movement, while all his competitors 
in the great contest of life walked on their toes, indicative 
of great speed. 

Now the question arises, How was man, thus surrounded 
on all sides, to maintain his existence, and successfully run 
the race of life ? He no doubt had inherited a large share 
of brain-power from his near relatives, the simia family, 
and this was the only quality he had upon which to rely. 
It was a contest of brain against muscle ; and upon this 
brain there was a constant strain, a continual draft for 
strategy to outwit his adversaries. He was forced to find 
the means of safety; he was obliged to be on constant 
guard, and to keep his eyes open. He had then to live by 
his wits, or perish in the contest for life. 

It is well established that the exercise of any animal 
organ is accompanied by a corresponding increase of ac- 
tion and power. This tax upon the brain, this demand of 
genius to counteract superior power and speed, this inces- 
sant call upon the intellect for increased activity, was the 
cause of the superior development of brain for which man 
is distinguished. Here is the cause of the immeasurable 
superiority with which man is endowed. It ceases longer 
to be a mystery, or any supernatural gift to man : it lies in 
the simple fact, that because the brain had to work, in con- 
formity to natural law it had to grow. 

The development of the human mind consequent upon 
activity is confirmed by comparing the skulls of the Ni- 
lotic Egyptians, found in the catacombs, with those of 
moderns of the same race. The brain measurement of this 
ancient Caucasian family shows an average of but 81.7 
inches, while in the modern Caucasian Teutonic family it 



— 24 — 



rises to 94.8 inches, thus exhibiting an advance of brain- 
power of 13.1 inches between the period of the living Egyp- 
tian and the modern type. 

Analogy between Man and the lower Animals. 

Man was brought into existence, nursed, and fed by his 
parents, as all other animals. He and all the lower forms 
of mammals are composed of bones, muscles, nerves, blood- 
vessels, organs of nutrition, respiration, and thought. All 
derive their existence from a previously organized being, 
who subsists upon food, grows, attains maturity, declines, 
dies, and decays. Man and all animals, when they first 
come into existence, are upon an equal footing as regards 
their mental capital, or stock of information. There is no 
such thing as innate ideas or inborn knowledge ; the future 
diversity depending upon the individual capacity to acquire 
and treasure it. All animals have the same media through 
which it comes, the senses : they all see, hear, feel, taste, 
and smell, and all begin to receive ideas or learn from the 
impressions received as soon as they come into the world. 
Thus far man and the lower speechless animals stand upon 
the same basis, and are equal. Man and all animals learn 
gradually by remembering the sensation or impression 
produced upon the mind by the operation of any external 
cause. Thus the calf, the pup, and the boy neither know 
nor fear the sensation produced by a fall or a blow until 
they have received one : the impression is their first lesson 
in education. The lower animals, like man, possess facul- 
ties corresponding to the perfection of the organs of the 
brain ; but the faculties in them are definite in their action, 
because there is little disturbing influence to affect them. 

In the savage, we see the same stationary and definite 
action of the mind in this particular, showing the strong 
analogy. In adult, educated, and enlightened man the 
mind has an extensive range; in the civilized, uneducated 
man it is more contracted ; in the savage still more so ; and 
in the infant the range is exceedingly limited, though it is 
mind working in all of these, of the same kind, differing 
only in degree. And when we descend to animals devoid 



— 25 — 



of the power of speech, and lower in the scale of organiza- 
tion, we still discover the evidences of the same faculties 
of mind, varying not in kind, only in degree of manifesta- 
tion, dependent on the degree of development. 

This can be better illustrated by reference to the animals 
themselves, and the faculties and emotions exhibited by 
them. All show terror or fear, and a sense of danger that 
they seem to try to avoid; many are subject to flattery and 
pride; almost all are capable of affection, jealousy, envy, 
hatred, malice, and shame; they will quarrel about what 
seems desirable to them, and, like man, persist as long as 
physical endurance will permit ; many resent an insult, and 
punish the offender when an opportunity is afforded; al- 
most all show retentive memories, and the more sagacious 
and gifted reason and draw conclusions. 

And, again, a large proportion of the faculties assigned 
to man by the modern system of mental philosophy is com- 
mon to the inferior animals : we observe love of life, ali- 
mentativeness, amativeness, constructiveness, self-esteem, 
love of approbation, cautiousness, benevolence, firmness, 
imitation, and locality. The action of these several innate 
faculties common to both man and the lower animals pro- 
duces the striking analogy observable in the mental phe- 
nomena: precisely as there is found a resemblance in the 
machinery upon which mind depends for manifestation, do 
we see this affinity. Wundt, who thoroughly investigated 
this subject, says: " Animals are creatures whose intelli- 
gence differs from man only by degree of development. 
There exists between man and the brute no wider intellec- 
tual gap than is to be found in the animal kingdom itself. 
All animated organisms form a chain of connected beings 
without an interval. When we represent mental life as it 
exists, — as a whole, — we must then admit that all animal 
forms are a part of the whole." 

Professor Agassiz confesses that he can " neither see nor 
say in what the mental faculties of a child differ from those 
of a young chimpanzee." He also observes, that "the 
range of the passions of animals is as extensive as that of 
the human mind; though they may differ in degree, they' 
do not in kind." 



— 26 — 



This similarity of mental manifestation must be apparent 
to the most casual observer: this affinity is not less con- 
spicuous in the physical organism. If we compare man 
with the highest type of speechless brute, we find that 
every part of the animal fabric, including the brain, bear 
the closest analogy. Professor Vogt says, that by compar- 
ing the brain of man with the brain of the chimpanzee, he 
finds that they are suprisingly similar. The naturalist 
Gratiolet also says: " There is a cerebral form peculiar to 
man and ape, and so in the convolutions of the brain there 
is a general unity of arrangement;" and this uniformity in 
the arrangement of the convolutions in both clearly indi- 
cate their close connection in the chain of animal life. 

If we look at the variations in the size of the human 
brain itself, we find that its volume is different in different 
races of mankind : it is far greater absolutely between the 
highest formed race of man and the lowest, than between 
the lowest man and highest ape. The largest human skull 
measured by Dr. Morton in internal content was 114 cubic 
inches, while the smallest was only 63, — a difference of 51 
cubic inches. The highest gorilla development reaches 36 
cubic inches, which, taken from 63, the lowest development 
in man, makes a difference of but 27 inches. So there is 
less difference between the highest brute and the lowest 
savage than between the savage and the highest formed 
and most improved man. Then the gap, both physical and 
mental, is greater between the lowest man and the highest, 
than between the lowest man and the highest ape. Where, 
then, is the gulf between man and the speechless brute ? It 
exist nowhere in nature, only in the imagination of the 
uninformed. The simple truth in regard to all types of the 
mammal is, that a certain amount of mental faculty is 
evolved from a given amount and quality of matter consti- 
tuting the brain. 

No distinction in the mental phenomena exhibited by 
man and the speechless animals can, with any propriety, 
be made. What is termed instinct in animals and reason 
in man is but a distinction in name, without a difference in 
function. All the facts bearing upon the subject being 
taken into consideration, they lead us to but one conclusion, 



— 27 — 



which is all and the only distinction that can be discovered 
or made between what is called instinct and what is called 
reason. In the one case, when the action of the mental 
constitution is undisturbed by external causes, and its ac- 
tion in consequence is definite, or when we see the action 
of the faculty in a low-developed state, then it has been 
called instinct; but when the action in the highest devel- 
opment becomes varied and indefinite, then it is called 
reason, and it was ignorance only that pretended to dis- 
cover and make a distinction in the mental constitution of 
animals that is not found in nature. Will any one of the 
believers in mental distinction say where or in what class, 
order, or genera of animals instinct ends and reason begins, 
or how high in the organic scale instinct holds its sway? 
Professor Huxley, alluding to the manifestation of the men- 
tal phenomena, says: "No impartial judge can doubt that 
the faculties observable in man are deep rooted, and are 
traceable far down in the lower types of the mammals;" and 
Agassiz declares that "the gradation of the intellectual 
faculties among the higher animals and man are so imper- 
ceptible, that to deny animals a certain sense of responsi- 
bility wonld be an exaggeration of the difference between 
animals and man. The testimony of those great naturalists 
who have made the nature, relation, and connection of man 
and the lower animals the study of their lives, is, to say the 
least, authority as good as the belief of those who have 
never given the matter a serious thought. 

Now, seeing that all animated organisms form a chain 
of connected organic beings without an interval, at what 
point, or in what period, in this progressive development of 
intellect, did man acquire or receive this spiritual part of 
his nature, that endows him with the attributes of immor- 
tality. If man of the most gifted intellect is to enjoy it, 
then the next in the scale is to have its benefit ; neither can 
it be denied to the wild savage, the idiot devoid of reason, 
or the insane man that has from disease lost his reason, or 
the child whose brain is undeveloped and incapable of rea- 
son; and the higher apes, coming close up to man, must 
come in also for the same prerogative. There is no escape 
from it, if eternal life depends upon mental development 



— 28 — 



or improveable reason. If sagacious animals, that exhibit 
the faculties, passions, and emotions of man, though in a 
less degree, are not accountable or immortal, by what 
philosophy, by what evidence, by what pretence, can man 
himself claim this boasted prerogative of immortality? 
Agassiz says : " The arguments of philosophy in favor of the 
immortality of man apply equally to the same principle in 
other animals." 



Analysis of the Human Mind. 

Throughout the entire realm of nature the naturalist 
finds but one substance, existing under a variety of forms, 
diverse modifications or modes of existence, and that sub- 
stance or entity is matter ; and however subtle, ramified, 
imperceptible, or invisible it is, yet ever subject to certain 
laws, though its conditions are sometimes such as to be 
known by its effects only. 

Thus light is the effect of certain forms of matter, under 
peculiar conditions, put in motion, requiring time to travel 
from place to place. 

Heat or caloric, too, is a peculiar modification of this 
same material ; it is invisible to the eye, though it is dis- 
tinctly felt, and is known by the effect it produces on all 
bodies. 

Electricity and galvanism are invisible and subtle con- 
ditions of matter, known only by their effects, ever present, 
pervading all bodies. 

Power or force is another invisible condition, known only 
by the effects exhibited by certain arrangements and com- 
binations of matter. 

Life is the result or consequence of material elements 
arranged, disposed, modified, and combined under organic 
laws evolved under favorable circumstances by spontaneous 
generation, and perceptible only by its effects. 

Thought is a material effect, found only in connection 
with organized animal forms ; it is exhibited alone by phy- 
sical organs. 

Thus, light, heat, electricity, force, life and thought, are 
inherent capacities and conditions of matter, known and 



— 29 — 



found only in connection with it, and exhibited alone under 
the several proper circumstances and combinations neces- 
sary for the evolution of each. 

The elements of life and, consequently, thought exist in 
inanimate matter, and are developed and manifested by the 
action of the organic forces. Thought being the result 
and product of organized matter, its amount, kind, and 
character depends upon the quantity, quality, and arrange- 
ment of the matter so organized, just as the power of an 
electric battery is determined by the manner in which it is 
constructed, and the quantity and quality of the materials 
composing it. 

It is a settled medical and scientific truth that mind is 
dependent upon physical organs, or upon certain combina- 
tions of matter constituting the brain or organ of intellect ; 
that the kind and grade of mind is determined by the size 
and activity of those organs in man as well as in other 
animals. 

So late in the day, it is unnecessary to multiply words 
to prove that mind is material and governed by the laws 
of matter, for we know nothing, and cannot know anything 
of mind or its manifestations only as it is connected with 
corresponding physical organs. All the qualities of mind 
and degrees of intellect are determined by the material 
conditions. 

Thus in infancy, while the volume of the brain is small, 
undeveloped, and in an imperfect condition, its functions 
are weak, exhibiting only that limited thought found in the 
lower animals and showing but little of the future intellect. 
In youth, as the organs of the brain grow in size and 
strength, and advance toward perfection, we behold the 
mind growing in capacity and power, exhibiting a wider 
range of thought, and pointing upward to the vigor of 
more mature years. In manhood, in the meridian of life, 
when all the parts and organs have attained their full size 
and perfection, we find the mind following this condition of 
the physical organization. It is then seen to have acquired 
its full vigor and endurance, which continues until the or- 
gans begin to be changed in their action by age itself. In 
the decline of life, in old age, the functions of the organs 



— 30 — 



are changed, the sensibilities are blunted, then the mind, 
like the body, loses its vigor and becomes feeble ; the mem- 
ory is no longer retentive and exhibits to a great degree 
the weakness of early years, and in extreme old age and 
debility is frequently entirely lost. 

In disease, when the organs of the brain are either ex- 
cited or prostrated, the mind follows the condition of the 
body as every one knows ; it either exhibits the peevishness 
of the child or the ravings of the maniac. In idiocy, too, 
the mind exhibits the weakness and defects seen in the 
constitution and construction of the brain. Indeed, if 
there is any proof wanting to show that the material and 
so called mental worlds are a living unity, or that the brain 
and mind in a normal condition is in perfect harmony, the 
proof may be found in the fact that, as soon as the brain 
or any portion of it is injured or destroyed, the mental 
manifestation is correspondingly impaired. 

Mind and intelligence is dependent upon certain material 
conditions: — First, the five senses; next, a perfect brain, 
with its connecting nerves ; and, lastly, upon the faculties 
corresponding to the several organs composing the brain. 
Connected with the brain in man are twelve pairs of nerves, 
that run out to different parts of the body, acting as elec- 
tric wires and conveying sensation to the seat of intelli- 
gence; but for these connecting cords we could not see, 
hear, feel, taste, smell, or perceive anything dependent 
upon the senses. 

All scientists define the brain as the seat of nervous sen- 
sation : the moral and intellectual, as well as the physical, 
character depending upon the quality of its structure and 
the relative size and development of its various convolu- 
tions. The faculties are natural, innate, and inherent in 
the physical constiitution of the brain : they are the origi- 
nal fundamental powers upon which all mind depends. 
The faculties are dormant and inactive until enlightened 
and educated by the external senses. Every faculty stands 
in a definite relation to external objects, and when the 
senses present the objects, they excite the faculties into 
activity. When called into action, the first act is percep- 
tion, which is a cognizance of the impression made by the 



— 31 — 



external object as exhibited by the senses; the second is 
memory, or the power the faculties possess of retaining and 
reproducing the impression received; the third act is judg- 
ment, the capacity of the faculties to compare and decide; 
the fourth is imagination, the highest function, combining 
all the others, and amounting to invention. Thus every 
faculty perceives, every faculty remembers, every faculty 
judges, and every faculty imagines. 

The action of those faculties constitute the bases and ele- 
ments of the human mind; and the kind, character, and 
strength of the mind is determined by the number, activity, 
and capacity of the innate faculties. If an individual pos- 
sess only a few active faculties, capable of taking cogni- 
zance of but few external objects, he can have but few ideas ; 
because those few faculties stand in relation to but few 
objects, and consequently must exhibit but a limited or con- 
tracted mind : and he who possesses the largest number of 
well-developed active faculties will evince the most com- 
prehensive and powerful mind. 

Now we cannot make a faculty, but we can cultivate and 
improve what we have inherited by nature : when we have 
done this, then we have cultivated and improved our minds. 
The faculties can be increased in power, capacity, and en- 
durance by the frequent use or practice of the corres- 
ponding organs; just as muscle can be so trained by use 
and exercise that surprising feats of strength and activity 
are performed. 

These faculties are not all manifested with the same de- 
gree of energy and activity in different individuals, because 
the physical organs upon which they depend are not 
equally developed or trained. There are no innate ideas 
or thoughts; there is no inborn knowledge; we have no 
such things until we receive them. External objects- 
through the senses produce a sensation upon the nerves, 
which is conveyed to the faculty producing an impression. 
This is the phenomena of perception ; it is the first function 
of the faculties; and without this act of perception there 
could be no such thing as an idea. The action of the 
senses, as a media through which impressions are made 
upon the faculties, give rise or birth to all ideas or 



— 32 — 



thoughts; so the greatest number of active faculties give 
birth to the greatest number of ideas or thoughts that con- 
stitute the mind. 

The mind may be defined as the sum or aggregate of the 
impressions received by the faculties, consisting, of the 
ideas and thoughts conceived, remembered, and treasured 
by them. Mind is, then, not a faculty, but the united im- 
pressions, associations, ideas, and knowledge stored up by 
the several faculties, to be drawn upon at will or pleasure. 

But we are incessantly told by unthinking dogmatists 
that mind is the thinking faculty in man, that by which we 
receive sensations, the soul or spirit. 

Now it is clear that we receive both sensations and ideas 
through the medium of the senses, which are material. 
A person devoid of the five senses cannot have any sensa- 
tions, impressions, or ideas. Can an individual in which 
the sense of taste is wanting have or receive any sensation 
of bitter, sour, or sweet? Certainly not, consequently he 
can have no idea of the sensations that those names indicate 
to those that have this sense. Does light or the various 
colors have any impression upon the faculties of a man 
born blind? Can he form any idea or thought upon the 
beauty or shades of colors ? Or can a man born deaf have 
any perceptions of sound, or ideas of harmony or melody ? 

Any one of those three individuals having all the senses 
perfect except one, and with an average number of active 
faculties, can possess some considerable amount of mind. 
Now, if mind is that by which we receive impressions, then 
this mind, though somewhat defective, must take some 
cognizance or have some idea of taste, light, or sound, but 
this is not the fact, as previously shown. Then it follows 
that this definition of mind is not correct, because it is not 
-that by which we receive impressions. It is the senses 
that is the medium or instrumentality by which impres- 
sions are made upon the faculties that perceives and re- 
members, from which ideas and thoughts are formed. 

Now, I have shown that the faculties are the instruments 
of thoughts and ideas only, when they have been acted 
upon by the senses, and not otherwise; and I have shown 
also that the mind is but the treasured ideas or thoughts 



— 33 — 



consequent upon the activity of the several faculties. In- 
asmuch, then, as it was a mistake to assign as the function 
of the mind what belonged to the senses, let us see if it is 
not equally a blunder to call mind the soul or spirit. 

This soul or spirit is said to have an eternal existence, 
or to live forever ; then, if it be true that it endures for- 
ever, it must be plain that the soul or spirit is not mind ; 
for mind, as I have shown, is dependent on the action of 
the faculties when excited by the external senses. Now, 
if the senses, which depend upon the perfection of the 
several physical organs and nerves, and the faculties, 
which depend upon the material organs of the brain, can 
endure forever, then this definition of mind may be true. 
But if the five senses, and the faculties of the brain with 
their functions, are destroyed and annihilated when death 
and dissolution takes place, the mind must go with them : 
there is no help for it. Soul or spirit cannot, then, be 
mind : it must be something that does not depend upon 
material organs ; for mind follows the condition of the ani- 
mal organization through life, is diseased when the body 
is diseased, and perishes with it. 

Hence, if it is still maintained that soul or spirit is mind, 
it follows that soul or spirit can have no eternal existence, 
and the whole doctrine has no foundation in fact or truth, 
and must be abandoned, like other antiquated notions, as 
a mere imaginary whim. 

There is nothing abstruse or complicated when the func- 
tions of the organism that produces mind are sufficiently 
examined and understood. We find it produced in man 
the same as in all other animals ; the whole trouble, doubt, 
perplexity, and confusion that have existed in relation to 
this subject has arisen, as it did in other studies, from the 
formation of theories before any correct knowledge was 
obtained by the observation of facts. 

This theory of immortal life was invented to supply the 
want of knowledge : as the intellect of man appeared so 
transcendently superior to that of the lower animals, he 
must therefore possess something that was denied to them ; 
so, in their ignorance of mind and the organs upon which 
it depended, they assumed that man had a soul that lived 

3 



— 34 — 



forever, and could give no better idea of what this soul 
was, than stupidly to imagine that it was mind. 

I want to evolve nothing but the truth. I have no pre- 
judices for or against any system or doctrine, and no ven- 
eration for anything, no matter how cherished or sacred, 
that is not found to be true. 

Untrained, ignorant savages may be induced to believe 
almost any marvelous or improbable story ; but how any 
person with ordinary powers of mind, that has the ability 
or courage to think for himself, can remain so blind as not 
to perceive that mind, like the physical organization, is 
subject to disease, derangement, and all the vicissitudes of 
the animal fabric, and, like it, material, mortal, and perish- 
able, I cannot conceive. 

Whether the principle in man be called soul, spirit, rea- 
son or instinct, is a matter of no consequence, since it pre- 
sents, in the whole line of organized beings, a similar phe- 
nomenon, closely linked together, which is the manifesta- 
tion of mind. 

The old metaphysicians taught that the material and 
the mental worlds were separate and independent of each 
other, — that they were alien entities, diverse existences, 
separated by an impassable gulf of eternal mystery. 
These false systematizers, in their ignorance of both na- 
ture and truth, divorced mind from matter, fearing that 
their connection and unity would at once jeopardize the 
cherished doctrine of man's spiritual existence, and sink 
him to a level with tne brute. 

Those metaphysical doctors lived in an age when there 
was no sound philosophy, and but little or no knowledge 
of physical science. They were unavoidably ignorant of 
the elementary qualities of human nature, and particularly 
of the influence of organization upon the mental powers. 
They were unacquainted with the relations and connec- 
tions existing between the mind and the physical world, 
and could not possibly predict to what extent mankind 
were capable of being improved by natural means. So it 
is easily seen what has been the true cause why mankind 
have so many ages remained unacquainted with their own 
nature and relations. 



— 35 — 



The philosophy of man has hitherto been too much con- 
ducted as a speculative inquiry tending to a particular 
dogma, and not as an inductive science ; and in consequence 
even the most enlightened people have never possessed 
any sound practical philosophy of the mental phenomena, 
but have been bewildered and misled by arbitrary, contra- 
dictory theories. Since the nature and laws of mind are 
understood, we find there are no gulfs or chasms, no black 
blanks, between the material and mental organizations. 

In studying mind we are not to take leave of matter ; 
the material and mental are in perfect harmony — a living 
unit that cannot be separated. Such a thing as the mani- 
festation of mind or intellect independent of material or- 
gans is unknown in nature. We know nothing, and can- 
not know anything of mind only as a function of the physi- 
cal faculties. All the measures of mind and indications of 
intellect are determined by material conditions. 

Organic Structure the Only Cause of Mans Superiority. 

Let us now examine wherein and in what particulars 
man differs from those animals to which he in general bears 
so striking an analogy. Let us trace his great superiority 
over the lower animals to the causes upon which it depends; 
then we will be better qualified to judge whether or not 
they confer or endow him with this great attribute of im- 
mortality. Those who have not sufficiently reflected upon 
the result that has been produced from structural peculi- 
arities upon man, can hardly realize the fact that they 
alone have been instrumental in producing, in the course 
of time, the great gulf that now exists between him and 
the speechless brutes. 

As the vast mountain ranges were once upon a level 
with the adjacent plains, so in the animal kingdom was 
man once upon a brute level, and by structural instrumen- 
talities has gradually been elevated, until he stands the 
towering Andes of the living world. His intellect is the 
accelerated growth consequent upon the food gathered up 
during a period of thousands of years ; even history, lim- 
ited as it is, shows the development of the human mind to 



— 36 — 



be but the result of continual accessions. It is a truth of 
universal application, that every living creature commences 
its existence under a simpler form than that which it even- 
tually attains. This we will find exemplified in the his- 
tory of man's progressive development, his structure ren- 
dering him an improveable animal. 

No elaborate argument is necessary to show that through- 
out the wide range of organic life a difference of structure 
produces a difference of function, and man exhibits in his 
organism but a few small advantages ; but, small as they 
may seem, they are the instrumentalities by which he has 
climbed upward toward that proud summit he now occu- 
pies. One of these peculiarities is the superior prehensile 
capacity of man over that of any other animal : his hand, 
though resembling some other animals in point of struc- 
ture, is better adapted to grasping, the " pollex " or thumb 
being opposable, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, 
be brought into contact with the ends of any of the fingers. 
It is this property that enables man to carry into effect 
the conceptions of the mind. Some few animals approach- 
ing near to him possess it in a limited degree, using clubs, 
throwing stones, climbing, &c. It is this perfect grasping 
capacity that gives to man much of his superiority. 

Without this structural advantage none of the arts of 
life could have been cultivated; agriculture, commerce, 
architecture, and manufacturing never could have existed ; 
no implement or tool could have been made or used ; no 
scientific, optical, or nautical instrument could have been 
constructed ; no metals could have been worked or brought 
into practical use ; no fabric or manufactured material for 
clothing or any purpose whatever could have been pro- 
duced. Indeed, without these man must have remained 
in quite a brute-like condition. Take from man his hands, 
give him instead hoofs or paws, and he is at once placed in 
a condition more helpless and powerless to live than those 
animals to whom they properly belong : he must live upon 
the spontaneous productions of nature without the art of 
cookery ; the face of nature would have presented a widely 
different aspect, — the native forests must have remained 
unsubdued, and civilization unknown to the world of man. 



— 37 — 



All this and much more was dependent upon the structure 
of the human hand. 

Another peculiarity of organic structure is found in the 
development of the human brain already alluded to. It 
is a settled scientific truth that mind is dependent upon 
physical organs, or upon certain combinations of matter 
constituting the brain or organ of thought. It has been 
successfully shown that the kind and grade of mind is de- 
termined by the size and activity of those organs ; in man 
as well as other animals, large organs corresponding to en- 
ergetic functions ; this is distinctly seen in the correspond- 
ing manifestation of mental faculty. Man, it is well known 
to all, exhibits a larger brain, in proportion to his stature 
or muscle, than is found in animals below him in the scale, 
and hence is capable of exerting more brain power, or 
greater ability to plan and reason, and, as intellect rises 
above the mere organic, man possesses in this respect a 
superior prerogative. 

And, lastly, in the human animal there is a structural 
peculiarity in the organs of sound or voice, the mechanism 
of the glottis and the will-power to contract and expand it, 
enabling man to articulate or modify the sounds he utters, 
giving him the power of speech. Thus, in process of time, 
he, after sufficient cultivation, by his ingenuity succeeded 
in the production of language. The cultivation and use of 
articulate sounds, or the invention of language, w T as the 
slow work of time, consisting at first of only a few simple 
sounds, conveying but limited ideas, but gradually becom- 
ing more varied and prolific, as necessity demanded it. 
Articulate sounds are the result of organic structure in 
man, just as much as particular sounds are produced in a 
musical instrument by particular mechanism. 

Language is not a gift of nature; in order to use it, in- 
vention is first necessary : it is the work of human genius, 
and can be employed only by those that have learned to ar- 
ticulate the words of which it is composed, which is only 
done when the individual has obtained the complete con- 
trol or command of the several parts and organs necessary 
for the utterance of the proper sound. Not until language 
was invented, and employed to convey ideas and the results 



— 38 — 



of experience from one to another, could man begin the 
work of mental culture with any system or certainty. A 
chance individual might rise above his contemporaries ; but 
without language his knowledge could not be conveyed to 
others, and would consequently be lost. Without language 
it is easily perceived that each individual would only be the 
possessor of that which he discovered himself, he could re- 
ceive none of the experience of others, and at the death of 
the individual all was lost that had been obtained during a 
long life of experience and discovery. 

It was only by adding the experience of the past to his 
own that man became an improveable and progressive be- 
ing. The invention and use of letters was a mighty aux- 
iliary in the work of human elevation and improvement, 
writing being much more enduring and reliable than tra- 
dition or pictural representation. Without some instru- 
mentality for conveying knowledge from one to another, 
man must have remained almost in a brute condition, as is 
well illustrated by the deaf mutes. A child born deaf can 
never, in any way, be made sensible of articulate sounds, 
consequently cannot acquire a language, or receive any in- 
formation through that instrumentality : it may be perfect 
in every organ, with only a defect in the auditory nerves, 
which an expert anatomist alone can detect. The individ- 
ual may have a perfect brain, a healthy and vigorous con- 
stitution, with full share of innate faculties, but be defi- 
cient in one of the avenues to the external world, — deaf; 
therefore can acquire no knowledge through that medium, 
and can only be educated through the other senses as far 
as they will go. 

Confine a deaf and dumb man from infancy with the so- 
ciety of dumb associates, and he will not evince higher in- 
tellectual qualities than an ape or an orang-outang, though 
he may be perfect in his organization, except in hearing. 
From infancy confine a child, to adult age, with a calf ; let 
him not hear a word or language spoken, educate him as 
a calf, and, my word for it, he will be a calf in every- 
thing but appearance, though he may have inherited all 
the faculties that would otherwise have made him intellec- 
tual. Still he will drop down toward the brute so far, that 



— 39 — 



it would perplex him to claim immortal life upon any other 
pretext than standing upon two legs. 

Without further comment on the power of language to 
elevate the human species, we have the authority of scien- 
tific men upon this point. Both Cuvier and Huxley main- 
tain that articulate speech is the instrumentality upon 
which depends the immeasurable superiority of man ; and 
William Humboldt says, " Man is man by means of lan- 
guage, but in order to use it he must be man." That is, 
he must possess the necessary organism to produce articu- 
late speech. 

Here, in a few structural peculiarities, are to be found 
the whole solution to the phenomena exhibited by that 
complicated being of whom it was said, he was " fearfully 
and wonderfully made," being only a "little lower than 
the angels." But, as the place of angels in the organic 
scale remains unknown, we have better authority for say- 
ing that he is but a little higher than the ape, and of the 
same zoological order; and the entire assemblage, embrac- 
ing all the multifarious and complicated actions connected 
with man or exhibited by him are included under but three 
heads : — First, that of nutrition, directed to the support 
and development of the body; Second, to changes in the 
relative position of the parts and particles of the organism 
with each other, producing perception, sensation, thought, 
will, &c; Third, that of reproduction or perpetuation of 
the species. These three include every phase of phenom- 
ena observable in man: speech, gesture, &c, are but mus- 
cular contractions. 

Man has become a progressive being by the instrumen- 
tality of several distinct natural causes: just as the trained 
setter dog transmits the disposition to set game to his off- 
spring, so does man transmit dispositions, capacities, quali- 
ties, and acquirements to his descendents. From the time 
he became distinguished as an animal of superior intellec- 
tual capacity, he has been slowly and certainly progress- 
ing, his reasoning powers have been augmented by the ac- 
cumulation and transmission of every improvement. He 
has discovered and treasured much, and has not yet reached 
the highest attainable point, but may yet discover more 



— 40 — 



progress, and grow in intellectual power for some time to 
come. But he cannot improve or progress forever; there 
is a limit to his researches and acquirements. 

Is the Soul a Positive Entity? 

We have discovered, by an investigation and compari- 
son of man and the lower animals, the physical causes of 
man's superior position and condition in nature, but have 
not discovered the soul that endures forever. Now, if 
enough is known of this soul in man to convince any one 
that it is a living entity, then it is clear that something 
else must be known of it or about it. What is its nature 
and characteristic qualities? where does it come from? 
How or when does it originate ? Does it grow with the 
animal, or is it received in a matured condition ? Is the 
soul of the child begotten by the soul of the parent ? or 
is it an undefinable being, created by God for the body of 
every infant that is brought into the world at the option 
of both pious and low, degraded parents ? Was a large 
stock created at once, and kept on hand ready-made, to 
supply the demand ? Who made the first discovery of its 
existence, and at what period? and how was its immor- 
tality ascertained ? Are souls classified as to size and qual- 
ity ? are some supplied with great ones and others with 
smaller ? or is there an equal measure meted out to all ? 
Has an infant as large a soul as an adult ? or has an idiotic 
organism a soul equal to a perfectly developed type of 
brain ? 

Now, if those and numerous other inquiries that might 
be made cannot be rationally answered, the only conclusion 
must be that the whole thing is but a sham and a delusion, 
— a production of the imagination, modified by the locality, 
time, and circumstances under which it originated. It is 
conceded by all that the physical organization, or bodily 
organs, undergo decomposition; that their figure is dis- 
solved after death, but that the elements composing each 
individual still continue to exist : the living form, only, is 
changed. Thus far all can agree ; but when it is said that 
each individual human being has something denied to all 



— 41 — 



organic life except man, then all cannot agree, because the 
evidence necessary to assure us of its truth is wanting, — 
nothing that the senses can take cognizance of is adduced 
to prove it. This belief hangs upon faith, — not a ghost of 
evidence is to be found to warrant any such conclusion. 
When we inquire into this dogma of the soul's immortality, 
we get no intelligent information from its believers. We 
are told by them that the soul is not a substance, but, in a 
word, that it is a spirit, that inhabits the human body 
while living, but after death it leaves for a new home, and 
that it is not to be discovered in its flight. But when 
further pushed, we are informed that it is a mystery be- 
yond comprehension. If so, you cannot understand its na- 
ture. Why do you decide about a thing of which you are 
unable to form the least idea ? To be convinced of the 
truth of anything it is necessary to know in what it con- 
sists. To believe in the existence of an immaterial soul is 
to say that you are persuaded of the existence of a thing 
of which it is impossible for you to form any definite or 
true notion : it is to believe in words without being able 
to affix to them any meaning. 

Nothing is more certainly known than that it is the 
physical organs of the body which think, feel, suffer, judge, 
and enjoy. The human body after death is no longer any- 
thing but a mass incapable of producing those motions of 
which the assemblage constitute life. There is no longer res- 
piration, circulation, digestion, sensation, motion, thought, 
or speech. We ridicule the custom of burying provisions 
with the dead, under the conclusion that it will be useful 
in another life ; but is it more ridiculous to suppose that 
men will eat after death, than to imagine that they will 
think, feel, or suffer, and experience pleasure, joy, or de- 
light after the organs adapted to produce those sensations 
are once dissolved ? To say that there is any part or en- 
tity belonging to man that is susceptible of sensation after 
the death of the body, is to say that men will see without 
eyes, hear without ears, taste and feel without nerves. 

Now, after deliberately surveying the whole ground, and 
testing this dogma by all the light that is within reach, I 
honestly and without hesitation assert that I cannot dis- 



— 42 — 



cover that man has received at his birth, or any time there- 
after, any endowment or supernatural gift, completely for- 
eign to the animal, that confers upon him the attribute of 
immortality. As we cannot discover this exalting and dis- 
tinguishing principle, that insures an exemption from death 
and annihilation, common to the brute world, the whole 
idea stands upon nothing, and must be surrendered. 

Nature shows no favors, grants no immunities ; no type 
of life is exempt from the action of her laws. All vege- 
table life perishes, and all forms and phases of animal life fol- 
low the same conditions. Upon what principle can man 
claim an exemption ? upon what pretext can he hope for 
himself what he admits is denied to all others ? It cannot 
be from his anatomical structure, for we find almost abso- 
lute identity ; not from his perpendicular stature ; nor from 
his mental faculties, which, though more developed, are 
fundamentally the same as those of other animals; not 
from his power of perception, memory, will, and a certain 
amount of reason, — for these are all found below him. 
Neither can it be from articulate sounds : it must be upon 
something completely foreign to the mere animal, and be- 
longing exclusively to man. Now, what is it ? Will any 
one answer ? No, never : ignorance has no answer to give ; 
belief, with those converts of immortality, precedes know- 
ledge. Man, say they, has a soul, but no one has yet dis- 
covered it ; still it is, nevertheless, true. But when impar- 
tial science investigates its existence, it is found to be a 
nonentity. 

In primitive times the limited capacity of the human 
mind failed to discover the true natural cause of man's su- 
periority, and, to remedy their ignorance in this as in all 
other natural phenomena, they called in some strange un- 
intelligible agency or name, that was more easily imagined 
than discovered. It was thus, to solve a difficulty the re- 
sult of ignorance, that a soul became a supernatural gift to 
man. Had these dupes of the priesthood then the light 
and knowledge that now abounds, they never could have 
been made to believe such a glaring absurdity. 

This doctrine was early introduced and imbedded in the 
great family of mankind, and as time rolls on and the race 



— 43 — 



increases in numbers, there is more treading in the same 
track, the ruts and channels become deeper, and the diffi- 
culty of leaving becomes greater : but shall we still blindly 
follow on perpetuating the follies, fictions, and fables of an- 
tiquity ? In all candor I ask, is the stupid coinage of our 
ignorant ancestors to still pass as sound currency for us ? 
are we still to look to them as authority for truth, regard- 
less of the light that science and intellectual growth reveals 
to us ? 

If mankind would undeceive themselves in relation to 
this nonentity called soul, it is not to subtle hypotheses, 
not to the church, not to the Bible, not to blind tradition, 
not to the ignorant past, that they must appeal for a know- 
ledge of the constitution of man, but to a direct investiga- 
tion of nature by observation, experiment, and experience. 

The Idea of Eternal Life Unjust and Cruel. 

The doctrine that teaches that man rots, but never dies, 
is a violation of the humane institutions of nature, which 
removes from pain and suffering all forms of life that have 
so far violated the laws of health that it has become im- 
possible for them to enjoy a pleasurable existence. The 
lower orders of the mammal can escape pain and torture, 
— death kindly relieves them ; but with man, pain and tor- 
ment is to be his portion throughout all coming time, if he 
does not conform to certain dogmas and human require- 
ments. 

There is no humanity in a doctrine so at variance with 
nature, that insists that man must live forever to suffer 
punishment in consequence of a few structural peculiari- 
ties, or a capacity inherited from his parents to reason just 
a little more than his contemporary of the same order that 
is incapable of cultivating language. 

If man, by nature and his own exertions, has attained a 
point so far above the rest of the living world, he undoubt- 
edly should in consequence be entitled not only to as much 
enjoyment of life and its pleasures, but more, in proportion 
to his elevated position. But this cannot be, as he is in 
constant danger of falling into a trap that will subject him 



— 44 — 



to everlasting misery ; or, escaping this himself, be con- 
scious at the same time that others of his fellow-mortals, 
from some mishap upon a road not very well denned, are 
suffering the cruel torments in store for those that fail to 
come up to the prescribed mark. No one can be happy 
when they know others are suffering. Nature and her in- 
stitutions are always on the side of humanity ; and there is 
humanity in the idea that death is an eternal sleep. A 
fear of death has been created by the religious belief of 
Christians in an eternal life of eternal punishment in the 
horrible hell sanctioned by the gospel, and the great uncer- 
tainty of finding that straight and narrow road that leads 
to heaven, derived from the same authority. 

Men that are termed sceptics have no such unfounded 
fears : they meet death as an institution of wisdom and 
humanity, and with much more firmness than those who 
believe in this false notion ; and among many pagans, with 
astonishing calmness the sick and the aged see the ap- 
proach of death, meeting it with a fearlessness that no 
believer in eternal roasting can exhibit. 

Future Life an Incentive to Crime. 

As far as the teaching or belief in this theory of eternal 
life or punishment in a world to come goes, its effects are 
mischievous, producing in one class, of a timid, sensitive, 
and mild disposition, a false alarm, a dread of torment, pro- 
ductive of no good ; while in another class its tendency is 
even more insidious, being an incentive to crime instead of 
a preventive. It does not restrain the vicious, nor influ- 
ence in the least the course or conduct of those who have 
inherited strong propensities to vice. The ignorant and 
degraded, the vicious and depraved, as well as the inmates 
of prisons and victims of the gallows, are nearly invari- 
ably believers in this theory of future punishments ; for 
criminals are taught that, though " their sins be as scarlet, 
they can be made white as' snow." To teach that in an- 
other world, after death, any one can enjoy a pleasurable 
existence forever, after a career of vicious and criminal 



— 45 — 



action in this, is beyond all question an incentive to the 
commission of crime. 

Though sinners are denounced, condemned, and despised 
for their conduct in this world, still, by faith in the atone- 
ment through Jesus, and a course of repentance, there is 
in store for them in another world, after death, an immor- 
tal life of happiness, — is all that the vilest sinner could 
ask. What restraint can the torments of a future life have 
upon an evil-disposed individual with the temptation to 
commit crime ? He has everything to hope, and nothing 
to fear, because he is taught that by employing a priest or 
clergyman to call upon Jesus, "the Lamb of God, that 
taketh away the sins of the world," the blackest crimes, 
the most horrible villainy, will be forgiven, and the culprit 
will die in peace, enjoying an eternal life of bliss. Sup- 
posing this belief ever did, through fear, deter any one 
from the commission of foul deeds, how much good was 
the consequence, or how much less wicked or sinful the 
individual ? They were only the more despicable and 
cowardly hypocrites ; with the disposition and will to com- 
mit crime, but too cowardly to take the consequences. In- 
deed, it is no wonder that criminals, convicted of the black- 
est crimes, believe in immortal life, — it is the sovereign 
balm of all evil. It is easily perceived that its influence 
upon society is pernicious ; and it is right that it should 
be so, — it cannot be otherwise, because the ^doctrine and 
principle is unsound. It is an attempt to cure an evil by 
a sham and false remedy. 

No doctrine, law, or • principle in harmony with nature 
does or can by its application work bad effects ; and, as 
this belief, under every variety of operation, works only 
injury, it cannot therefore be sound or true. And again : 
if God is omniscient and omnipotent, and immortality was 
an institution to prevent crime, then a belief in it would 
prove an effectual bar to its commission, because God would 
employ none but sufficient means ; but the means are not 
sufficient nor effectual, — therefore it cannot be an institu- 
tion of God, but only a device of man. This doctrine, 
then, is of no avail, and of no consequence to any one ex- 
cept those false teachers that assume the office of directing 



— 46 — 



souls to heaven. It was born of the priesthood ; they have 
a direct interest in its perpetuation, because it yields emol- 
ument and power, insures exemption from labor and a lux- 
urious living. 

Scripture Testimony against the Theory. 

In every case, truth is preferable for authority, instead 
of authority for truth ; but, as anything found in the Bible 
is good authority for some, I give the sayings of a man re- 
puted for his wisdom and knowledge. He saith : u Who 
knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the 
spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" 
" I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of 
men, that God might manifest them, and that they might 
see that they themselves are beasts. For that which be- 
falleth the sons of men befalleth beasts ; even one thing 
befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dieth the other ; yea, 
they have all one breath ; so that a man hath no pre-emi- 
nence above a beast : for all is vanity. All go unto one 
place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." 
Now, as far as the authority of Solomon goes, he puts, in 
quite as unequivocal language as is found in the book, man 
upon a level with the beast as regards immortal life. 

Nor is that all ; for believers in Bible authority its neg- 
ative evidence is very conclusive upon this point. Can 
any one, believing the Bible to be the word of God, admit 
that anything so important to the eternal welfare of man- 
kind should or would have been neglected ? Belief in im- 
mortal life is now looked upon as a test of morality, be- 
cause those who do not believe it are disqualified to give 
testimony or hold office, as though they were too immoral 
to be just or truthful. Now, how does it happen that God 
gave no evidence of it, nor made any mention of it through 
his favorite lawgiver, Moses ? It would seem, then, that 
it could not have been so important, or God, when commu- 
nicating His will and law to a pet people, would have made 
this of paramount importance, and particularly enjoined it. 

Moses either knew nothing of this doctrine, or deemed 
it unfit for the comprehension of the ignorant horde he in- 



— 47 — 

tended to govern, and God, too, must have been ignorant 
of its great value to mankind. Immortal life formed no 
part of the religious creed of the Jews ; indeed, it was en- 
tirely unknown to them until they came in contact with 
the Persians and Assyrians. So far as the authority of the 
Old Testament goes, we cannot find any support for such 
an idea. Though the dogma was wide spread in the time 
of Jesus, still he made no specialty concerning it. He de- 
nounced the Pharisees, who professed to believe this doc- 
trine, for their great immoralities, as hypocrites, compar- 
able to "whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones and all 
manner of uncleanness " ; while the most enlightened Jew- 
ish sect disbelieved it, and he had no word of condemnation 
for these Sadducees. And, further: Jesus promised his 
followers only worldly pre-eminence. They said, " We have 
forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we have there- 
for?" He answered, " Verily I say unto you, That ye 
which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son 
of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit 
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
So neither Jew nor Christian has furnished any adequate 
account of a future state ; because in those days good men 
went to heaven in the body, — flesh, bones, and all. Enoch 
was translated; Elijah went up, chariot and horses ; and 
Jesus ascended up into heaven, to sit on the right hand of 
God, living in the flesh. 

Physical Law Inexorable. 

Weak, credulous, and superstitious mortals may spin 
their favored fancies and hug their dear delusions as much 
as they may, but they cannot influence or control nature. 
They are bound to submit to physical law, which knows no 
time, no place, no condition, nor type of life; to its inevi- 
table decrees all must bow. Some in their vanity have 
tried to cultivate a belief in the immortality of man by 
asserting that there would be no use in coming into life if 
we were thus to die, like other animals, so soon. In this 
particular they must know and understand man's use in 
nature, and for what particular purpose the blind forces of 



— 48 — 



nature that developed man operated ; they, too, must be 
able to discover more with the eye of imagination than is 
to be discovered by all other instrumentalities. The truth 
is, man holds and fills his place in nature as all other ani- 
mals, the entire order to which he belongs constituting 
only a few links in the great chain of animation. Now, 
if it is necessary for man, in order to perfect nature, to 
have a fixed, enduring life, then it is equally necessary 
that other links in the same chain should also be enduring ; 
for the last and highest link is of no more importance than 
the first and lowest. 

Man is but a monad, comparatively, and the perpetua- 
tion of life as an individual must be of the smallest pos- 
sible consequence. The material particles upon which the 
flame of a lamp depends are indestructible and eternal ; 
but when separated and changed by chemical decompo- 
sition, the flame goes out ; and man is but a transitory 
combination that exists only until his vital forces are ex- 
pended, and then the inevitable issue is decomposition and 
dissolution. Not a vestige of man as man is left; the 
chemicals alone exist, in the same condition as before the 
organic structure of the animal. No type or form of any- 
thing in nature is perpetuated or preserved unaltered, nor 
do we know of the perpetual continuation of anything ex- 
cept matter. Then, with what propriety can any one assert 
that the lffe of man is enduring, since there is no endurance 
or permanence to the forms into which humauity has been 
forced. What vanity, to try to persuade ourselves that, 
though all other things in the organic world disappear, we 
ourselves are immortal ! Man has a beginning, both men- 
tally and bodily, and it is quite clear that whatsoever has 
a beginning must have an end, and where there is no end 
there could be no beginning. 



The Teachings of Theology Deceptive and False. 

I ask, in the investigation of this subject, nothing but 
fair, honest inquiry. For centuries this question has re- 
mained in doubt ; thinking minds have decided and settled 
it for themselves, but many have not been bold enough to 
assert their deliberate convictions. We want men bold 
enough to be honest, and honest enough to be bold ; we 
want the truth, and are ready for it : I fear not the conse- 
quences of its promulgation. I desire to see, in reference 
to this subject, conclusions drawn from facts and evidence 
proclaimed with the same energy and unflinching zeal for 
the cause of truth that theology has unblushingly em- 
ployed, without evidence, in the diffusion of error for self- 
ish ends. 

The priesthood and their coadjutors, — the geographers 
of this other world, — long since have discovered that it 
were easier to deceive and gain power over the ignorant 
masses by amusing them with fictions, than to teach 
them truths to unfold their reason, or improve their capa- 
city for correct judgment. It is this false doctrine of a 
future life in a world to come that has enabled them so 
effectually to conquer the present world of ignorance : 
without this it could never have been so completely accom- 
plished. It is the only instrumentality by which the clergy 
could have enslaved and terrified people into perfect sub- 
mission. So long as theologians and their dupes have been 
searching for something' foreign to the mere animal upon 
which to base the superiority of man, they have only been 
deluding themselves, and deceiving or misleading others 
groping in the dark for that which cannot be found out- 
side of the physical organization itself. All the surmises, 
assumptions, contrivances, and pretended supernatural 
gifts are but delusive shams, divested of every proof cal- 
culated to assure us of any such thing. When the boasted 
superiority of man is stripped of the rubbish thrown around 
it by the imaginary theories propagated by Manou and 
Zoroaster, subtilized by Pythagoras and Plato, and stands 
before us in the simplicity which modern sense and science 



— 50 — 



reveals, we find the cause simplified and narrowed down 
to a small point, — to that of structural difference only. 
But this, I repeat, our ancestors' limited intellects failed 
to find. The authority of our great-grandsires and their 
deceivers is no longer to be respected: now, nothing but 
evidence founded upon facts can be relied upon to enable 
us to discriminate between truth and trash. Strong-rooted 
prejudices and cherished chimeras in relation to a future 
life, like the mist of the morning, will be dispelled by the 
light of biology. 

But, aside from the truth or falsity of this doctrine, it 
can be of no possible consequence or value to the masses, 
— to none except those that receive pay or reward for 
preaching this dogma. For we are told by those soul-sav- 
ing doctors, that the road that leads to Paradise is straight 
and narrow, and that few there be that find it (after all 
their teaching), — that the elect is small indeed; while 
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to the 
realms of misery and death. Thus, by their own showing, 
all are damned to eternal torture except themselves and a 
few of the elect, — God's chosen favorites. Oh, ignorant, 
deluded mortals ! how long will mankind continue to be 
duped and hoodwinked by such vagaries? It is alone by 
teaching this false and delusive theory that the clergy 
have maintained their hold upon the people. If the Chris- 
tian world were undeceived, and convinced that all must 
perish, after death, with the body, those crafty, selfish en- 
gineers would lose the right and business of guiding hu- 
man souls toward that eternal abode, — they could reap no 
gain from the hope with which they feed them and the 
terrors with which they oppress them. Here is the true 
cause and reason why the clergy are so tenacious concern- 
ing this theory, — here is the cause of the "mad dog" cry 
of sacrilege, infidelity, and blasphemy that is raised in 
holy horror by them to stifle investigation. But, be it 
known, it is not for the cause of truth or the good of man- 
kind that they are thus concerned and alarmed, but for 
their own safety and power: and of all the theological 
jugglery, ancient or modern, that has been imposed and 
practiced upon mankind, this theory of the existence of a 



— 51 — 



soul and its immortality is the most absurd, daring, and 
impious ; its counterpart is only to be found in the doctrine 
of vicarious atonement. 

This doctrine has no inception in human nature. Man 
in his primitive condition entertains no such idea. Only 
some religions inculcate it, and only those accept it that 
are influenced by the false teachings of theology. Among 
large portions of the human race it is utterly unknown; 
indeed, the entire profession of Bhuddism, embracing 
nearly one-half of the great family of man, disbelieve this 
dogma altogether, and believe in and know only this world : 
the eternal world they regard as a nullity and a vagary. 

The Destiny of Man is Extinction. 

When we consult the history of the globe, we ascertain 
that no part of its crust or the materials composing it are 
now in the condition in which they originally existed, every 
portion and part having been worked over and over again 
into new forms by the action of the physical forces ; and, 
as a succession of great physical changes have taken place 
upon the surface of the earth, we must therefore expect to 
find corresponding changes in organic life. It is abun- 
dantly proven that it was inhabited thousands and thou- 
sands of years by myriads of types of animal life before 
man made his appearance, each of which have perished in 
turn, though some have endured much longer than others, 
outstripping their contemporaries in the race of life, but 
have eventually yielded -to that order of nature, — that law 
of extinction, — that removes an old and feeble type for the 
introduction of a new and more vigorous one: just as the 
younger and more vigorous branches of a tree take the 
place and draw the sap and nourishment from the older, 
which, in consequence, die and are forever lost. None of 
the inhabitants now found living are primordial types ; no 
form of life, either high or low, simple or complex, has en- 
dured through vast periods of time,- or survived successive 
revolutions : old types have been invariably supplanted by 
new and more highly-developed forms. 

Production and Destruction is the great law of life, — so 



— 52 — 



sure as an animal comes into existence so sure will it die ; 
this same law extends to families, species, and groups. 
Man and all types of life now in existence are certainly and 
surely following in the wake of their predecessors, — they 
are on the highroad to extinction : to that goal they must 
sooner or later arrive. There is no escape from this con- 
clusion ; it is amply proven by the history of the past. 
Such has been the course, the round, the role, the fate of 
all beings since life began; and, as we cannot conclude 
that the laws of nature will in the case of man be sus- 
pended, or that organic development and intellectual 
growth and progress upon our planet is just now to be ar- 
rested and forever stopped, man must share the fate of his 
predecessors and contemporaries. 

As long as the chemical properties of matter and its in- 
herent forces remain the same, nature must operate in the 
future as in the past; and however fondly credulous man 
may feed upon the phantom of immortality, the stern and 
inexorable decree of nature will rule his race, and man 
will leave the stage of life : his inevitable destiny is extinc- 
tion. To suppose that man could endure, while other ani- 
mal species and groups around him must perish, is pre- 
suming too much ; nature makes no such exceptions, grants 
no such immunities. The laws of nature are immutable : 
old varieties, in both the vegetable and animal kingdom, 
wear out, decline, and die, never again to reappear. 

It is no surmise or assumption to assert that the whole 
race of man is destined to become extinct: we can decide 
correctly what will take place in nature for the future by 
a knowledge of what has occurred in the past. We infer 
that variable weather and storms will come in the future, 
because such things have been common in the past; we 
know that eclipses and transits will show themselves in the 
future, because we have witnessed them in times gone by; 
we are sure that all animals now living will certainly die, 
because we know that all animals have died in the past. 
Hence, we are not less certain that the type of man will 
become extinct, because other types of animal life have 
forever disappeared in the past. Upon this point we have 
evidence, pointed, positive, and clear ; but where, where is 



— 53 — 



there a ghost of evidence to prove that man is a being that 
endures forever ? 

After we have deliberately examined and considered the 
physical development of the human creature, and the va- 
rious phenomena presented in common with all mammals, 
we find that he is none other than matter combined, ar- 
ranged, disposed, and modified after a peculiar manner, 
the form and mode of existence varying every instant, ex- 
hibiting only the various phases of Avhich matter is suscep- 
tible. Is this truth too simple and too plain to account for 
the complex mechanism exhibited in the economy of man ? 
But few realize the simple energy of matter, and its inhe- 
rent properties and capacities. It presents an infinity of 
phases: sometimes solid, liquid, fluid, and gaseous; some- 
times organic, sometimes inanimate and sometimes ani- 
mate, sometimes sensitive and sometimes insensible. It is 
matter that is vision in the eye, sound in the ear, contrac- 
tion in the muscle, sensation in the nerve, thought and vo- 
lition in the brain, and mind in the man. In the face of 
these facts, will any one dare to claim for the family of 
man a perpetual existence ? 



— 54 — 



RECAPITULATION. 
:o: 

Although the consideration, as given in the foregoing 
pages of this subject of man's immortality, is both brief 
and subsultory, still it abundantly warrants the following 
presentations and conclusions : — 

That man is neither more nor less than an organic pro- 
duction, the product of the physical forces ; that a mass of 
nucleated protoplasm is the structural unit of his body; 
that he originates in a germ similar to that of all ani- 
mals below him, and comes into the world by the same 
process as all placental mammals ; that he is built up and 
composed of the same chemical elements, developed in the 
same way, his brain in an embryotic state passing through 
the forms of the brains of the lower animals; that he is 
not only similar to them in structure, but from them and 
of them, because their very substance and elements are 
transubstantiated in a few hours into man himself, living, 
moving, thinking, willing, reasoning, &c, vice versa. 

That, like all organic forms, the physical and mental 
constitution of man is moulded, determined, and modified 
by the influence of external circumstances; that it was 
alone the force of those conditions, surrounding him with 
difficulties and dangers, that conspired to his mental devel- 
opment, by a continual demand for genius, ingenuity, and 
strategy; and this constant exercise of the brain by slow 
degrees increased the size and activity of its several or- 
gans, and he in consequence was lifted above his rivals of 
the forest, thus outstripping them in brain power. 

That there is a strong and striking analogy between the 
human structure and that of the speechless brutes that 
lie immediately below him, bone for bone, muscle for mus- 
cle, and nerve for nerve; that in the cerebral form and 
convolutions of the brain there is a general unity of ar- 



— 55 — 



rangement ; that there is less difference in the size of brain 
between the highest brute animal and the lowest savage 
than between the savage and the highest developed and 
most improved man; that the gap, both physical and 
mental, is greater between the lowest man and the highest 
than between the lowest man and highest ape ; that there 
is, then, no gulf between man and the brute, since all ani- 
mal organisms form a chain of connected beings, without 
an interval. 

That the gradations of the intellectual faculties among 
the higher animals and man are so imperceptible, that to 
deny animals immortality would be to magnify the differ- 
ence between them and man; and that any argument in 
favor of immortality in man applies equally to the same 
principle in other animals that exhibit the faculties and 
emotions common to man. 

That life and thought are inherent properties and capa- 
cities of matter, existing in a latent or dormant condition, 
like light, force, and electricity, ready to be evolved when- 
ever the proper and necessary conditions and combinations 
are produced; that mind and mental power is material, its 
kind and character being dependent upon the quantity, 
quality, and arrangement of the organized particles; that 
thought is the result of molecular changes in certain com- 
binations of matter constituting the brain and nervous 
system; that all the measures of mind and degrees of men- 
tal power are determined by material conditions; that 
from infancy to old age, from health through all forms of 
disease and malformation to death and dissolution, the 
mind or intellect is influenced by the physical condition of 
the animal organs, proving their connection and harmony ; 
that as soon as the brain or any portion of it is injured or 
destroyed, the intellect is affected or destroyed to the same 
extent. Thought cannot be anything but material when 
it is dependent upon certain conditions of matter coming 
from it; it must therefore be of it. Thought is but a 
mode of motion in matter. 

That soul or spirit cannot be mind, because mind de- 
pends upon the material organs of the five senses and the 
faculties which depend upon the organs of the brain; and 



— 56 — 



as these are destroyed and annihilated when death takes 
place, the mind must perish with them, — there is no escape 
for it. That if the existence and immortality of the soul 
is insisted upon, it must be shown that it is something of 
a more enduring character, completely distinct from the 
mere animal and capable of self-existence. 

That, admitting, — what cannot be shown or proved, — 
the existence of a soul, this soul is not the cause of man's 
superiority; for it is demonstrated beyond all question or 
doubt that this depends upon organic structure and noth- 
ing else, and that physical development is amply sufficient 
to account for all human phenomena. 

That the soul is no positive entity, because nothing is 
known of it or about it, — nothing of its origin, nature, or 
qualities is described ; that when we inquire of believers in 
this dogma, we get no intelligent or definite information. 
We inquire: What is this soul? A hidden principle, the 
cause of human action, — a spirit. What is a spirit? A 
substance, or something which has neither form, bulk, ex- 
tent, mass, weight, color, or parts. How, then, can it 
move a body, or in any way act upon our senses? That 
is a mystery. What, then, can be known of a thing too 
mysterious for comprehension? It is a popular belief, and 
must be so. Beasts think, feel, and act, very similar to 
man ; have they no souls ? If they had they would be of 
no consequence, inasmuch as they would be insensible to the 
damning power of priests, and could not pay to have them 
saved. That soul is but a name for a nonentity, to which 
we can affix no idea or meaning, invented for the purpose 
of hiding ignorance. 

That the idea of eternal life is unjust and cruel, because 
it insists that man must live forever to suffer punishment 
in consequence of passions and dispositions inherited from 
his parents, and creates in many an unfounded fear of death, 
inimical to human happiness. 

That the dogma of a future life is an incentive to crime, 
because it is taught that there are infallible recipes to quiet 
consciences and save souls, — that priests in every country 
possess the secrets to disarm the wrath of God; that if 
the wicked will share with the clergy the fruits of their 



— 57 — 



frauds, they may prey with impunity upon the rights of 
others; that the acts of injustice, rapine, perfidy, and out- 
rage will all be forgiven, that they will die in peace, and 
the soul will enjoy an eternal life of felicity. Thus a rob- 
ber, or felon, by giving a part of his fortune to the priest, 
is insured against eternal fire, and all the torments of the 
damned. Is there any dogma or doctrine, true or false, 
that offers greater immunities or encouragement to the 
guilty? ^ 

That the existence and immortality of the soul is not 
founded upon Bible authority, — that neither Jew nor 
Christian has furnished any adequate account of a future 
state of existence. 

That the teaching of theology in relation to this doc- 
trine is false and deceptive, tending only to benefit those 
who preach it, — false, because there is no evidence to sus- 
tain it, having no counterpart in nature. It is supported 
mainly by the false teaching of the clergy, who procure 
influence, riches, and honor by thus taking advantage of 
the ignorance, folly, and prejudices of mankind, pretend- 
ing to have derived power from God to direct the souls of 
men to heaven. That the clergy are tenacious of this 
dogma is clear from the fact, that they have shown a sav- 
age, persecuting, revengeful disposition toward the indi- 
viduals who doubt this proposition, that theology is incom- 
petent to understand or explain, and in order to maintain 
their power and safety, have waged a perpetual war, in 
every country, against reason, science, and truth. 

That none of the inhabitants now occupying our planet 
are primordial types; old forms have successively been 
supplanted by new and more highly developed ones ; that 
production and destruction is a law of organic life that will 
continue to grind on forever, or as long as the inherent 
properties of matter remain unchanged; that all animal 
families, species, and orders are following in the track of 
their predecessors to an inevitable extinction; that there 
is not an iota to save man from the fate that awaits his 
contemporaries. The fact that there is no endurance to 
the forms or of the type into which humanity has been 
forced, at once annihilates all hope that man possesses any 



— 58 — 



prerogative, other than organic structure, denied to the 
inferior animals. That he, being of them and from them, 
must therefore share the vicissitudes of life and death 
common to all organic beings ; and that .the certain des- 
tiny of the family of man is extinction, — that this want of 
perpetuity in the race is at once a death-blow to all ideas 
of eternal life or future existence. 



— 59 — 



CONCLUSION. 

:o: 

I have endeavored to discuss this subject honestly, coolly, 
and fairly, with a desire to give due weight to all the facts 
and arguments presented in its defence. But I have been 
unable, in my limited consideration, to discover either. I 
find that it is based alone upon a blind faith in the conjec- 
tures and chimeras of Pagan priests that tradition has car- 
ried down to us through a long night, of ages, and that it 
uow hangs only upon the hinges of ignorance and fear. I 
know how dear delusions are to those that believe without 
evidence or knowledge. I know how hard it is for igno- 
rance to part with traditional prejudice and the blinding 
influence of education. No reliance can at all be put in 
any of the oriental fables and fictions picked up from among 
the theological rubbish that has drifted down to us through 
the channels of tradition. We want truth, based upon 
facts drawn from nature and experience. Truth is almighty 
and irresistible, and will ultimately prevail; strong-rooted 
prejudices and long-cherished superstitions must fall and 
vanish before its steady, onward march. Profligate priests 
have long enough had their way, say, and pay for teaching 
trash instead of truth; let them hereafter earn an honest 
living, and cease longer to delude and defraud the credu- 
lous masses. 

I have maintained persistently that mind and soul are 
not synonymous, and that the nonentity called soul is not 
the cause of the immeasurable superiority of man. I have 
shown upon what it does depend; therefore, I am free to 
say in what it does not consist. And, after having thus 
presented the main structural peculiarities upon which 
the towering superiority of man depends, and from which 
he derives all that distinguishes him above the inferior 



— 60 — 



animals, I, in all candor, present the question, — Is there 
anything in the structure of the brain (that differs more 
between the several varieties of man than between the 
low type of human brain and the ape), the organs of speech, 
or the conditions of prehension, common to man, that in- 
sures to him immortality? Is man to live forever because 
his brain is so constructed that he can reason a little more 
than the gorilla, or articulate a little better than a parrot, 
or construct better than a bee or a beaver ? Because lan- 
guage renders reason improveable, because the hands are 
so constructed that he can apply that reason to practice in 
the arts, — because of these few structural differences be- 
tween animals, is one to endure forever and the other to 
be annihilated? To these inquiries, I agree with Solomon, 
"As the one dieth, so dieth the other. * * * All go 
unto one place." 

Surely the facts I have presented, the arguments I have 
used, and the conclusions I have drawn in the investiga- 
tion of this subject, can have no tendency to lessen or de- 
stroy our respect for the dignity or nobility of man, except 
in the estimation of those that have not yet escaped from 
the blinding influences of traditional prejudices. Because 
man is in substance and structure one with the brutes; 
because his superiority depends mainly upon the capacity 
for producing articulate sounds, that he has arranged into 
intelligible speech, whereby he has slowly accumulated the 
experience that was lost to others; because he has seized 
upon the advantages that organic mechanism gave him for 
his elevation, — because his superiority is dependent upon 
these, is he in any degree degraded? Not in the least; 
but ennobled, because it furnishes us with a knowledge of 
his primitive mental condition, and of the lowly stock 
from whence man has come, and the best evidence of the 
power of structural peculiarities to afford capacities by 
which he struggled upward through the darkness of the 
long past to the proud eminence he now occupies. 

I have no doubt but what I have shocked the tender 
sensibilities of many by an assault upon a future life, and 
the destruction of a world to come; but, if I have placed 
obstacles upon the track on which they have so long rode 



— 61 — 



unmolested, recollect I have only been removing them 
from others. I have only made an assault upon ignorance 
and error, that now and in past ages have cursed our 
world, and given some facts and arguments tending to 
show that a belief in the hypothetical dogma of man's im- 
v, mortality is one among the many delusions that have cap- 
tivated the human mind; and if my array of facts should 
raise a howl of holy horror, and a lamentation over the 
destruction of all faith in the existence of soul and the 
hope of a world to come, let them rave away and cling to 
their delusions ; as they need, for w T ant of intellect, the ter- 
rors of future punishment and the hope of reward after 
death to keep them in the paths of moral rectitude. 

In the total absence of both facts and arguments to sus- 
tain this doctrine, I ask, of what consequence are the conse- 
crated errors of ancient theology to us? Is a blind faith 
in their stupid fables necessary to explain the phenomena 
of human life? Not a bit of it. At the period or epoch 
that this hypothetical and mythical dogma was proclaimed, 
the human mind was not sufficiently developed to grapple 
with the enigmas of nature; the existing stage of know- 
ledge forbade any rational conclusions in reference to the 
economy of nature or philosophy of life. Shall we con- 
tinue longer to rely upon our grandmother's bones as the 
oracles of truth? The antiquity of a tale or theory adds 
nothing to its plausibility or truth. So long, then, as we 
seek in this maze of ancient darkness for proofs upon which 
to base immortality, so long as man is infatuated with the 
myths and phantoms of superstition taught by holy fana- 
tics, so long as he views the discoverers and expounders of 
truth as his enemies, — -just so long will he be unsettled, 
deceived, and disappointed : he will find his path continu- 
ally beset with insurmountable obstacles, marching in the 
midst of unceasing storms, and tossed by every wind of 
tradition upon this ocean of uncertainty. 

Cease, then, to cling to the delusions, to the chimeras and 
the errors of the dead past. That which is false cannot be 
useful or valuable. Truth is the only helm that will guide 
man out of the sloughs of mystery," miracle, fraud, deceit, 
and terror that the priesthood have everywhere thrown 



— 62 — 



around us. We can rely upon facts only, fiction will no 
longer avail. 

I have said the question of consequences was unworthy 
of consideration or discussion; but methinks I hear the 
minions of superstition raise a hue and cry against an as- 
sault upon this popular delusion ; so I ask when or where, 
in the history of the world, was mankind injured or afflict- 
ed by the overthrow or destruction of a popular error? 
Galileo was charged by ignorance with teaching a doctrine 
and system of astronomy at variance with the Bible and 
the truths of theology, of corrupting the youth, and en- 
dangering the well-being of society. But the new philos- 
ophy demonstrating the truth prevailed, and ignorance and 
its false notions were eventually overturned and eradicated. 
Now, did the world of mankind sustain any loss or calam- 
ity by the downfall of the old, false doctrine, or adoption 
of the new ? The human family have always profited by 
the adoption of truth in contradistinction to error. The 
demonstrative philosophy taught by Galileo' forced the 
truth upon the human mind, thereby supplanting error, 
and mankind was largely the gainer in consequence. 

The idea that it is better to cling to an old error that 
has long had the sanction and consent of ignorance, than 
to accept a new truth, is altogether fallacious. Although 
error may be deep-rooted, and even form the very basis of 
a theory or system in human society, still it is ruinous pol- 
icy to cherish it, to the rejection of a demonstrable truth. 
Truth is valuable because it is truth, and its dissemination 
a blessing. Every one now knows and appreciates the 
truths that science teach ; they understand their vast im- 
portance in human progress ; but when they were first dis- 
covered and proclaimed, loud-tongued denunciators were 
ready to cry humbug even at Morse's telegraph, and de- 
nounce geology and kindred sciences as baseless and mis- 
chievously immoral because they did not harmonize with 
the book of Genesis, their traditional prejudices, and super- 
stitious dogmas. But the time is close at hand when the 
false doctrines and fictions of the past must fade and fall 
before the steady onward march of scientific truth. The 
search of the Scriptures and the investigation of religions 



— 63 — 



have impaired their authority; doubt and infidelity range 
over a wider area than ever before. Scepticism has be- 
come naturalized in modern intelligent society. 

Science and religion, the two antagonists, are now in the 
open field, and will have a free and fair fight. One must 
be vanquished. Already physical science has attained a 
prodigious and powerful growth, and has been sweeping 
myths and phantoms, gods and devils, out of the world. 
Idols and images have been crumbling and tumbling, defi- 
nitions of the unknown have been vanishing, chimeras and 
fables are fast fading away, and soon the human mind will 
be disenthralled from the chicanery and knavery of an in- 
solent and arrogant hierarchy. 



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